One of The Joy Team's Portland billboards.

One of The Joy Team’s Portland billboards.

The day after the Orlando shooting, special messages designed by The Joy Team for digital billboards went out to honor the victims and support everyone mourning their loss. These messages are up in Orlando, Las Vegas, Portland and possibly several other cities as well. One such billboard was featured in a New York Times story on the shooting.

Currently, there are five Joy Team billboards up in Vancouver and several more in Portland.

The Joy Team is a positive thought 501c3 with the simple mission of spreading joy, optimism and inspiration to millions.  Founded by ESD 112’s own Michele Larsen (Communications Department) in 2010, the happy organization has put up over 1,300 bright yellow billboards carrying positive messages across the U.S.

The international Chalk the Walks event, which engages people across the globe to draw positive messages on their sidewalks on the 3rd Tuesday in August each year, is also a project of The Joy Team.  And through their PB & JOY Project, the non-profit collects donated jars of peanut butter, wraps them with inspiring messages drawn by kids, then gives them to Share Vancouver for the Backpack Program that serves all the schools in Clark County.  Over 4,000 joy-wrapped jars have been given to kids living in food insecurity in our community. The Joy Team has partnered with Hough Elementary for years to teach kids the joy of giving and doing kind acts while bringing Happy Packets to City Hall, the Vancouver Police and Fire Departments, US Postal workers, school bus drivers and others serving our community everyday.

Learn more at thejoyteam.org or follow our happy trail on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thejoyteam , Twitter at https://twitter.com/thejoyteam or Instagram @the.joy.team