Make the Change is a student-led organization at UNI focused on strengthening the community through acts of kindness. The organization was formed in 2018 by Cam Salvador and Eric Ramos after they worked with the national organization More Love Letters and decided the UNI campus could use this type of love and encouragement. The executive team now consists of President Paige Parma, Vice President Ashlyn Miller, Public Relations Manager Samantha Hilbert and Treasurer Abby Brown.

Make the Change creates letter bundles to be sent to students, faculty or staff. These letters are filled with words of encouragement, support and love. According to their website, Make the Change has written 747 letters to 51 people since being founded. In addition, they have distributed 282 “Pass it On” cards and “If you find this, it’s meant for you” letters along with 43 kindness rocks and 100 kindness clips. 

Words have a big impact on a person, whether positive or negative. Words and their meanings alter the brain function. According to an article published by The Center for Collaborative Awareness, using positive words increases cognitive reasoning and kickstarts the motivational centers of the brain. Negative words do the opposite, contributing to higher stress and anxiety levels. It’s important to speak to yourself and others in a positive way as our words affect us more than we think. 

The organization and their letter bundles have an immediate impact on the recipients. The website lists a couple testimonials from people who have received these letters, sharing how it affected them. One states, “You have given me hope, and lifted my spirit,” while another says, “I read through all of the letters with a huge smile on my face. They certainly gave my heart a hug!” 

Students are able to fill out a form on the Make the Change website to nominate someone to receive a letter bundle. The organization is only able to create four to five bundles in a month, so these forms are reviewed by the vice president before recipients are selected. Once the letters are written, the executive team will screen them for any potentially harmful content before sending it out.

Make the Change has been nominated for multiple Student Leadership Awards in the past. In 2020, the organization was a nominee for the Mental Health Ally Award, Outstanding Officer in a Student Organization and Student Organization of the Year. The organization was also nominated for the Panther Pride Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary’s Outstanding Service Award in 2020.

Students can get involved by filling out an interest form on the Make the Change website or attending a meeting. The next meeting will be at 6 p.m. in the College Eye Room on Wednesday, March 22. For a full semester schedule, check out the Make the Change social media pages. 

For more information about the organization or to submit a nomination form visit https://makethechangeuni.weebly.com/.