'Talk To A Stranger Week' is back and GenWell and Good Earth Coffeehouse Are Making It Easier To Turn Strangers Into Friends

We've always been told, "Don't talk to strangers"
We're here to change that

Saying "hello" to someone you don't know at least once a week 
and you can be up to three times happier, according to a national survey

TORONTO, Nov. 1, 2024 /CNW/ - Talk To A Stranger Week is back, and this year, GenWell is partnering with Good Earth Coffee during the week of November 18-24 to make connecting – with strangers and friends alike – even easier. The week is an opportunity to build a sense of connection and community many need in a post-pandemic world. It is seizing the opportunity that many of us have each day to make a difference in our own lives and the lives of others by simply saying hello, smiling or striking up a conversation with a stranger.

Talk To A Stranger Week stems from a survey conducted by GenWell and researchers at Simon Fraser University. The survey shows that people who greet strangers at least once a week are up to three times happier than those who do not speak to strangers. The campaign intends to educate Canadians about the many benefits of talking to strangers and then give them permission to do it!

Talking to strangers offers so many benefits to our physical and mental health, including:

• Increased happiness
• A strengthened sense of belonging
• Increased mental sharpness
• Improved mood
• Improved trust
• Greater optimism
• Improved empathy
• Decreased sense of loneliness and isolation

*** Watch last year's Talk To A Stranger Week recap video ***

"For decades we have been told not to talk to strangers, but research shows that there are many benefits to both people, in the little interactions that we have each day with strangers," said Pete Bombaci, founder of GenWell. "Good Earth's belief that a coffeehouse can and should be a community gathering place and their desire to help people foster connections is what makes them such a fantastic fit to help spread this message as our partner during Talk To A Stranger week."

*** Interviews opportunities available with Pete Bombaci, CEO of GenWell ***

Good Earth Coffeehouse was founded on the premise that a coffeehouse can and should be a community gathering place, and this belief forms the basis of the partnership between the two organizations. Between November 18-24, Good Earth Coffeehouse will help promote the message of GenWell's Talk To A Stranger Week in stores and through community engagement events, such as paint nights, book clubs, and live music in more than 50 locations from Victoria, BC to Halifax.

"We are so pleased to partner with a like-minded organization, one which values community and connectedness." said Nan Eskenazi, Founder of Good Earth Coffeehouse. "We believe the social interaction that takes place in our coffeehouses are incredibly valuable which is why we strive to create an atmosphere where customers feel good."

*** Download the Talk To A Stranger Week Media Kit ***

The findings about the positive impact of greeting strangers is just one of many from the Canadian Social Connection Survey, which was conducted with the assistance of 3,800 participants from across Canada from April 27 to June 1, 2021. Other interesting points include:

• Only 20% of Canadians speak to strangers everyday.
  
  
• Only 35% of Canadians believe that talking to strangers can make them feel less lonely.
  
  
• Interestingly, 57% of Canadians believe that talking to strangers can open them up to new perspectives.
  
  
• Only 28% of Canadians believe that speaking to strangers can make them happier.
  
  
• Only 27% of Canadians believe that speaking to strangers improves their attitude.

Other insights around the value of speaking to strangers include:

• Over 90% of the time when we speak to strangers both parties have a positive experience
• Talking to strangers can increase optimism, trust, happiness, compassion, an increased sense of belonging, and reduced feelings of loneliness
• People tend to underestimate the positive impact and interest that others have about speaking to a stranger.
• Research identifies that repeated experience talking to strangers can reduce people's fears about talking to strangers and increase the ease of doing so and the experience will be more positive than you expect.

The hope is that Talk To A Stranger Week will help people build healthier social connections habits as we head into the holiday season and give all Canadians the opportunity to feel a greater sense of connection and belonging. Remember, a stranger today could be a friend tomorrow, someone who can teach us something new, make us laugh or smile, or someone we chase a passion with and much more.

We want to empower Canadians with five tips for a more connected fall and set the tone for the holiday season and beyond. Here's what we suggest:

1. Be heads up, literally and figuratively, about the opportunity to use eye contact as a catalyst to connect with a stranger.
   
   
2. Make the extra effort to connect with someone who may be a little preoccupied. They will likely appreciate the effort.
   
   
3. Look out for those common faces that you see on your typical route to work, to the classroom, in the neighbourhood or while you are out for some exercise. That face you see every day may be the connection to greater happiness: a new friend, a new colleague, someone who might teach you something.
   
   
4. Recognize that the simple act of saying hello to someone struggling can also provide a greater sense of empathy, compassion, connection and belonging.
   
   
5. If you don't succeed at first, and someone doesn't respond to your outreach, try the next person you come across. Not everyone understands the power of talking to strangers like you do...yet.

Connecting with strangers may also be a great way for some introverts or people who are socially anxious to build a sense of connection without the commitment of a longer conversation. 

For more information about the campaign, tips on how you can get connected, and to tell us that you got connected with a stranger, check out www.TalkToAStrangerWeek.org.

About Genwell
A registered Canadian non-profit organization, Genwell (formerly The GenWell Project) is a grassroots Global Human Connection Movement, whose mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place by educating people about the importance of face-to-face social connection as a proactive step to improve our overall health, happiness, and longevity, as well as for those around us.  The organization shares information, research, tips, tools and motivation through its social channels and website to help people create healthy connection habits. It also activates around two weekends a year – spring and fall – when it sets out to be the catalyst that triggers people to reach out and get connected face-to-face with family, friends, neighbours, classmates and colleagues. Learn more at genwell.ca. 

Good Earth Coffeehouse: Official Partner of Talk to a Stranger Week
The first Good Earth Coffeehouse opened in Calgary in 1991. Founders Nan Eskenazi and Michael Going began with a desire to serve exceptional coffee and wholesome food, with a down-to-earth attitude. Good Earth has grown to over 50 locations from Victoria, BC to Halifax, NS and remains true to the original mission...to be a coffeehouse with good food.

SOURCE The GenWell Project

For media inquiries, please contact: Jamie Deans, [email protected], 647.284.7710; Haley Poncsák, [email protected], 403.294.9330