The mission of Ben’s Bells is to inspire, educate, and motivate people to realize the impact of intentional kindness, and to empower individuals to act according to that awareness, thereby strengthening ourselves, our relationships and our communities. Ben’s Bells Project was founded in 2003 after the sudden death of Jeannette Maré’s two-year-old son, Ben. The simple, everyday acts of kindness following his death helped Maré survive and begin to heal. She was inspired to establish Ben’s Bells Project as a way to recognize and continue the kindness shown to her. On the first anniversary of Ben’s death, four hundred bells were hung in public places for strangers to find. Today volunteers are invited to come to our studios to help create Ben’s Bells which are then hung throughout the community. To date, more than 58,000 bells have been hung in Tucson and beyond. In addition to bell distributions, Ben’s Bells Project provides kindness education programming for more than 124 schools, organizations, and businesses. For more information about Ben’s Bells: bensbells.org.
The Ben’s Bells Phoenix studio opened in 2015 and is located in downtown Phoenix in the heart of the Roosevelt Row Arts District. The studio is open weekly for people to participate in the project of making Ben’s Bells, and bells are distributed Valley-wide. Phoenix now has over 10 Kind Campus schools and provides programming and events throughout the community.
