The Compassion Bench

After burgers at the Black Bear restaurant around the corner from U.C. Davis, my friend,  Steve Streeter, enthusiastically urged "Oh, I've got to show you the #CompassionBench! Let's go, it's just a couple of blocks away."   As we walked,  he told me the story of how a man named David Breaux stands at the corner of C Street and 3rd Street (on the edge of AT&T's property) with a notebook asking people to share their written concept of the word "compassion."   David raised so much awareness of compassion that the community came together and built the "Compassion Bench" out of recycled materials - plastic bottles, plastic bags, covered with with plaster and embedded
centerpieces of mosaics that include symbols and words extracted from the interviews.

Delighted, I investigated the bench with my eyes and hands - feeling the different textures and sensing the inspiration one person evoked in a community to make a difference.  AT&T donated the corner property to the project, and a diverse group of people came together to create the #CompassionBench

Serendipitously,  at that moment, David Breaux, the project's visionary, crossed the street to meet us. He shared his plans to take the Compassion project to other cities around the country.   David has compiled the concepts on compassion in a book.   He graciously signed a copy for me: To Pam 

                                Live as Love through the compassion within your heart. 

Learn more about David H. Breaux and his Compassion project at www.compassionguy.ning.com

                                                                    The Compassion Bench in Davis, California

                                                          Pam Mark Hall and "Compassion Is" Visionary  David H. Breaux