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Letters for Las Vegas

Passion Project

L4LV Logo Design

I came into my room late on the night of the shooting. My roommate Max was on the phone with his mom, who lived in Las Vegas. Their conversation did not sound good. There was a shooting on the strip. Sadly enough, in America it seems like a shooting happens every week. But I was especially disturbed and heartbroken by what happened on October 1, 2017.

Living only a few hours’ drive away from Las Vegas, I had been there multiple times, and recently stayed at the resort where the shooter opened fire. I had even done an internship at the ad agency who makes ads for Las Vegas tourism. Although I had never lived there, I felt like I had a connection to the city.  I kept refreshing my Twitter feed every few minutes, hoping the news might tell us the reason why someone would do such a terrible thing.

Days ended up passing, and still no one could figure out what could have pushed someone to do something so terrible. I was shocked and heartbroken. Distressed, I couldn’t even imagine what the families of the loved ones must have been feeling. But I wanted to help. I wanted to let them know how hard it was to hear, and how sorry I was for their loss. I wanted them to know I literally prayed for them. So, I decided to write a few hand-written letters.

Finding the families to send it to was the hardest part. I did hours of research, and even worked with two CNN reporters who helped me find some of the families who lost someone in the tragic shooting.

Realizing others might also want to share a handwritten letter like I did, I ended up making my own personal campaign called Letters for Las Vegas. I designed a logo, created a Facebook page, and made an address for people to send in letters. With my own money, I purchased ads on Facebook and targeted them for select areas.

I also created a booth and set it up at BYU. I coordinated with volunteers to come and give instructions to students who wanted to write letters to the families who lost loved ones in that tragic event.

The reaction I got from this undertaking amazed me. People would come up to our booth and start writing letters, without even needing an explanation as to why. I realized that there were many other people like me who felt a deep sense of loss, despite not personally knowing any of the victims in the attack.

In the end, I received hundreds of letters from BYU students, locals in Provo, and even people outside of Utah who saw it through my Facebook ads. The immediate and powerful response from hundreds of people I didn’t even know was encouraging and life-changing.

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