Take Care with Peanuts

Peanuts Worldwide has kept an oddly low profile with one of its more admirable campaigns: one of the best uses of our beloved characters in decades.

 

The “Take Care with Peanuts” initiative is a global, multi-year enterprise that encourages everyone to “take care” — of themselves, each other, and the Earth. The initiative draws on the themes of wellness, community and environmental engagement found throughout Charles M. Schulz’s revered comic strip; the ongoing campaign includes philanthropic outreach, social messaging, and educational activities. 

 

Children and communities are at the heart of each message. As part of the campaign, new 60-second social media messages have been produced, one released each month, each centered around a different theme to remind us to press “Pause” in order to appreciate ourselves, those around us, and this place — Earth — that we all call home.

 

Each video focuses on one of three vital messages: Take Care of Yourself (physical and mental wellness); Take Care of Each Other (community and philanthropy); and Take Care of the Earth (nature and sustainability). The goal is to help inspire a major worldwide philanthropic movement, via social messaging and educational activities.

Each video message is available in 10 different languages.

 

The campaign’s official Peanuts.com page is woefully insubstantial, and doesn’t even include links to the various videos. They’re easy to find via a YouTube search, such as this one.

 

Although Peanuts Worldwide has made zero effort to publicize other sorts of activities, we can report on a fabulous “Take Care with Peanuts” campaign taking place in Hong Kong, where it has partnered with the Singaporean-style restaurant chain Dignity Kitchen. The company, based in Singapore, is a social enterprise business with the goal of helping the under-privileged. 

 

Outlets go out of their way to hire special-needs employees. Diners can leave messages on a “Caring Tree,” via heart-shaped stickers. Pay-it-forward food coupons — $50HK (about $6.40 U.S.) — can be purchased and pinned to a board, where they’re available to be redeemed for free meals by food-challenged individuals.

Isn’t this way cool? Compassionate, charitable, selfless and public-spirited?

 

We sure could use a little of that, here in the States…