Give your loved ones a good, long hug.
Aaron Vanderpool, a local father, is encouraging the community to hold each other close for 20 seconds on Saturday in memory of his only child.
“The last night I saw them before they died, they gifted me with a big, long, perfect hug. I love them and will miss them for all my days. They were my world, and this world will never be the same without them,” said Vanderpool.
His child, Taraji, was 13 when they passed away in June.
“[Taraji] was awesome, the typical teenager, very aloof,” Vanderpool told My PG Now.
“They were someone who would stand up for other people. If someone was feeling bullied or left out, they were there to stand up for or sit beside someone and hang out and talk to them. That is the kind of person that they were.”
Vanderpool has partnered with Foundry Prince George, Downtown PG and the PG Pride Society to bring the this hug is 20 seconds campaign to this weekend’s Downtown Winterfest, where he is hoping to see, and help give 20 20-second hugs.
He said the initiative was not originally intended to be something with widespread attention on it, but the community rallied around him to bring it to the masses.
Vanderpool said a 20-second hug has been shown to have therapeutic properties, and is also closely tied to one of his final and most cherished moments with Taraji.
“I connected the two, I can share with people how amazing my kid is and how big of a difference they made in the world, and also take care of myself by giving and receiving a 20-second hug.”
“This event is really about giving the gift of connection,” he said, adding you do not have to be in downtown Prince George on a February Saturday to share a hug with someone.
More information on the campaign is available on its Facebook page, here.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
