Become a Branch of the Soul Box Project

Any individual, group or organization can BECOME a Branch of the Project! As soon as possible, we will post the materials lists and sources along with all the “How-to” instructions so you can make your own backpacks and panels, without our starter kits. Check our Resources page for ideas, downloads and how-to videos.

WE ARE HERE to answer questions, share tips, and help with signage!!

NOTE>>> Our 372+ panels and kits for panels and backpacks have all been claimed and we are packing them now–just in time for Wear Orange Day 2023! We need to update all the new Branches online along with the upcoming events.

THIS LOSS nationwide Graphic

There are endless ways for your branch of the Project to use panels of Soul Boxes however, whenever and wherever you wish.

We are specifically inviting all Branches to incorporate panels of Soul Boxes into your plans for Gun Violence Awareness Month and Wear Orange Day 2023. Having Soul Box Project events and exhibits throughout the U.S. – all at the same time – will help connect and amplify our shared pursuit of a safer society.

Laura Evans Media, the team that so successfully promoted our exhibit in D.C., is prepared to also publicize This Loss We Carry–NATIONWIDE as an impactful national event.

Plan to be a part of this important activist movement!
By joining us, participating entities will become an extension of The Soul Box Project with inclusion on our website and in nationwide publicity in June 2023. We would ask affiliates to:

What Can I Do with Soul Boxes?

Since 2017 The Soul Box Project has been raising awareness of the U.S. gunfire epidemic by counting and honoring victims in memorial exhibits, offering healing participation to those seeking solace, and providing dramatic visual support for all initiatives working for a safer, more civil society.

36,000 of the Soul Boxes sent to Portland from across the nation were assembled into lightweight, interconnecting panels like this:

Panel-from-Newsletter
  • 1 panel = 98 Soul Boxes
  • 4′ h x 2′ w (folds square for storage)
  • Approximately 3 lbs.
  • A convenient 24″ x 24″ x 24″ moving box perfectly holds 6 panels (or cut down a wardrobe box)

Creating Soul Box panels is an engaging, inclusive activity to make a reusable visual to support your work to reduce gun violence.

Use your locally made Soul Box materials:

  • for a dramatic visual at your events.
  • to expand healing participation with Soul Box-folding as another tool to engage your community.
  • to enhance media visibility.
  • to display for an extended time in…a window, hallway, office, lobby?
  • to lend out within your city, state, or region.

Thousands of hand-folded origami Soul Boxes were made by individuals and groups around the country. Our team assembled them into 365 panels of Boxes to span the width of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in October 2021. Over 5,000 visitors viewed the This Loss We Carry exhibit. Media reach was over 500 million.

Pathway between 200-foot-long walls of Soul Box Panels under a canopy
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Now, you can make—or possibly borrow—these art-filled panels of Soul Boxes and/or “Backpacks” for displays, marches, walks, and protests to support your efforts to reduce gunfire deaths and injuries. Look for a Branch near you to inquire about borrowing their panels.

  • Are you part of an organization working to reduce gunfire trauma, injuries, and deaths by violence, accident, or suicide?
  • Does your church, school, library or civic group want to raise awareness of how deeply gunfire affects communities?
  • See where Branches have already been adopted.

Get started growing Soul Box roots in your area.

Though all of our 372+ panels and kits for panels and backpacks have all been claimed, it’s not too late for you to get involved! Email exhibit@SoulBoxProject.org and we will help you get started. We are busy right now

  • packing up those last orders and preparing their signage,
  • updating the new Branches and upcoming events online, so you may reach out to borrow or contribute to a collection of panels in your area,
  • getting the materials lists and sources ready to put online so YOU CAN STILL MAKE BACKPACKS AND PANELS.

We encourage individuals to reach out to nearby Branches.  And, of course, WE ARE STILL HERE to answer questions, share ideas & tips.

String quartet plays in front of Soul Box panels

FAQs

Whether it’s worn by students in Montana, activists in New York, or Hadiya’s loved ones in Chicago, the color orange honors the more than 120 lives cut short and the hundreds more wounded by gun violence every day. The official site is WearOrange.org.

Absolutely nothing! Panel adoption and the other materials are all free of charge. The Soul Box Project will pay postage.

Of course, if you have sufficient resources, your tax-deductible donations will help us send materials to more places.

Donate here.



Yes! They are 4-ft h x 2-ft w x 1.5-in d and weigh less than 3 pounds each. They are lightweight, modular, and easy to install in a variety of ways:

  • tack, screw, or nail into a wall
  • attach to your existing hooks or picture-hanging system
  • hang quickly with S-hooks (provided) or zip ties on a garment rack, photo backdrop stand, horizontal bar, pop-up tent, or rented pipe & drape structure

See various exhibition solutions in our Past Highlights.

Each mesh-backed panel folds in half and slides into a plastic sleeve with cardboard backing. Six panels ship (and store) in a 2’ x 2’ x 2’ cardboard carton. A hatchback vehicle can probably carry 12 panels in two cartons with the back seat down.

Imagine the circumstances and locations you might display them and what other local groups might borrow them. We recommend adopting multiples of six—the number that fit in one shipping carton. We anticipate that 6, 12, or 18 panels will be ideal for most organizations to use and share.

You will find these items listed on the Panel Request form–while our supplies last.

  • Panels of Soul Boxes to display
  • Backpack kit…Materials for clear backpacks you can fill with Soul Boxes to represent the number of U.S. gunfire deaths in one day. Effective in marches, rallies, etc. 
  • “Make-2-Panels” Starter Kit…Encourage the healing activity of community Soul Box-making and create panels to display them.
  • Loose Boxes
    Completed Soul Boxes that were carried in the D.C. exhibit processions. Plain or embellished with art, messages, or name (may be requested by state). Use them to get a head start on panel making, backpacks or your own displays.
  • Downloadable Materials…see our exhibitors’ resources page



Yes!

We will be available via email for free consultation, as needed, about your use of panels.

We will schedule quarterly zoom meetings for the nationwide network of adoptive Branches to share their plans, ask questions, or get ideas from each other.

If/when the contact person in your organization changes, please DO let us know how to stay in touch with you.

PLEASE notify us about your Soul Box creations, events, and exhibits of Soul Boxes in the coming months/years so we can share the details and a photo on our website.

In advance of the June 2023 nationwide event/exhibit, tell us about your plans to participate and get the free promotions by our crack D.C.-based media team.

When you post about your activities involving Soul Boxes on social media, remember to tag #SoulBoxProject to expand your reach to our followers. We have pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn @SoulBoxProject.

Yes! We will retain some panels in Portland for the loan program. If a Branch of the Soul Box Project has adopted panels already in your area, you may be able to borrow locally and save on costs.

We are grateful for your ongoing support that allows us to continue
COUNTING. CARING. CONNECTING.
Our work goes on because of your participation and continued donations.