Pledge “HelloBoston”
"I will smile and say "hello" to strangers I pass on the streets in my neighborhood but only if 50 residents of Boston, Massachusetts, USA will do the same."
— Deborah Elizabeth Finn, Beacon Hill resident
Deadline to sign up by: 1st September 2006
91 people signed up (41 over target)
Country: United States, Massachusetts
Place: Boston, Suffolk County, MA (view map)
More details
I'm an enthusiastic participant in the Boston Foundation's "What's Next?" seminar series. This is a program that seeks to bring together leaders of all ages to exchange insights and expertise about Greater Boston's challenges and opportunities. One goal of the series is to foster a diverse, active, and intergenerational network of leaders to lay the groundwork for sustained action on shared civic goals.
(For more information about the "What's Next?" series, please see http://www.tbf.org/indicatorsproject/wha...)
One of the issues that comes up continually is our concern about Boston's future. Good people are moving away, or refusing to consider moving here, because they perceive Boston as a cold and unwelcoming to outsiders.
This is a complicated problem among many other problems, and there is no simple solution. However, I'm convinced that this is not a situation so dire that incremental change is impossible.
Therefore, I am making a pledge to get started by smiling and saying hello to strangers that I pass on the streets of my neighborhood.
