Love Button’s 2023 World Tour Recap and Its Global Impact

In 2023, Love Button embarked on a remarkable journey around the globe during Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour, spreading kindness and making a positive impact at each city stop. From South America to Europe to Asia and more, we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who joined us in working with different non-profit organizations to help local communities. Our volunteers assisted in food making and distribution, garden creations, trash clean-ups, building shelters, and so much more.

Here is a recap on the global impact Love Button had in 2023.

South America

Love Button’s journey in South America began in São Paulo, Brazil, where we partnered with TETO to improve housing conditions in impoverished communities. Engaging with families lacking essential services, volunteers organized community centers and discussed future projects. Additionally, Love Button joined SP Invisível, addressing homelessness by providing meals and engaging in conversations with those in need.

While in Curitiba, Brazil, Love Button teamed up with TETO again to help with a clean-up project at a community center and fix water retention systems at some of the residents’ homes.

Our last stop in Brazil was Rio de Janeiro where we worked with two different organizations, Ação da Cidadania and TETO once more. With Ação da Cidadania, our volunteers prepared food packages for distribution to vulnerable communities. A few days later our team then visited one of TETO’s communities to finish building the final stages of two homes that will be gifted to two of the families.

Europe

In Coimbra, Portugal, Love Button worked with Serve the City to combat social exclusion through community dinners and workshops for the elderly and homeless. Our volunteers prepared the meals, served the visitors, and conversed while enjoying a nice, loving meal together.

Our next stop was Barcelona, Spain. The Love Button team collaborated with Arrels Fundació to connect with the homeless, and with Esperança Barcelona to distribute food and necessities on city streets. We covered all of Esperanca’s routes and gave the supplies to anyone in need. We were able to help over 50 people!

In Manchester, UK, Love Button supported Coffee4Craig‘s facility, assisting with meal preparation and engaging in conversations. Over the four days that we were there, we helped over 200 people.

While in Cardiff, we worked with Crisis who helps members find new homes on their journey of getting off the streets. To help with this transition, Crisis creates new home starter kits to hand out to those in need. These kits include things like bathroom essentials, kitchen items, cleaning supplies, bedding and more (kind of like our Baskets of Gratitude program!). Our volunteers prepped these kits for the Crisis members.

Love Button then traveled to Naples and Milan, Italy, collaborating with organizations such as Coopertiva INN, La Scalzabanda, Let’s do it! Italy, CleanNap, Recup, and DARE. Projects included environmental greenification, addressing food waste, and engaging in activities promoting social inclusion in underserved communities.

The journey extended to Zurich, Switzerland, where Love Button operated Essen Für Alle‘s food bank, redistributing tons of food to local families in need. At the end of the day, we redistributed between 12-15 tons of food to families in need. In Copenhagen, Denmark, the team collaborated with FANT, hosting a football clinic for youth with a focus on social inclusion.

Continuing to Gothenburg and Amsterdam, Love Button partnered with People’s House and Serve the City, respectively. Activities ranged from community cleaning initiatives to fostering collaboration among local organizations.

North America

As we continued on our global journey, we turned their attention to North America.

In Seattle, Washington, the Love Button came together with FareStart, an organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty by providing work and life skills. Volunteers played a pivotal role in supporting FareStart’s mission, emphasizing the importance of providing opportunities for those in need to build better lives.

We then took a small detour from the USA to go to Vancouver, Canada and help Mama 4 Mamas. Mamas for Mamas uses their resources & partnerships to combat poverty, mental health, food insecurity, and housing issues. In their free store they provide mothers and families with clothing, shoes, diapers, baby furniture, etc.

Moving back to the West Coast to San Diego, California, Love Button partnered with Mama’s Kitchen, an organization addressing malnutrition among residents facing critical illnesses. Mama’s Kitchen delivers nutritious meals to individuals with conditions like HIV, cancer, and chronic kidney disease. The Love Button team actively participated in preparing and distributing these specialized meals, contributing to the well-being of vulnerable populations.

In Los Angeles, California, Love Button joined forces with Monday at the Mission, a volunteer-based organization focusing on homeless teens in the Skid Row area. Love Button’s involvement included a music-infused session with teens, fostering a positive environment and contributing to the organization’s efforts in providing a pathway for a better future.

We also worked with The People Concern while in LA. They provide outreach, interim housing, mental and medical health care, substance abuse services, domestic violence services, life skills & wellness programs, and permanent supportive housing – tailored to the unique needs of homeless individuals, survivors of domestic violence, challenged youth, and others who have nowhere else to turn.

Australia

In the middle of our tour through Asia, we did a stop in Perth, Australia to work with OzHarvest.

Australia loses 36.6 billion worth of product to food waste and they still have 5.5 million people suffering from food insecurity.

OzHarvest works with local organisations to stop food from going to waste and they then redistribute it to the correct channels. They also offer education programs and cooking classes, so people can learn how to reduce food waste in their own communities.

Love Button volunteers took part in their Nourishing Meals Cooking Class and School Donation programs. Over 2 days, our team cooked 120+ meals from saved food and packed 215 food hampers for vulnerable families and children in 85 local schools.

Asia

The final leg of our journey took us to Tokyo, Japan, where we partnered with Tokyo River Friends and Second Harvest. For the former, our volunteers spent 4 hours at the Arakawa river. With a goal of collecting 200 bags of trash, we were able to fill 203! Tires, soccer balls, bottles, motorcycle helmets – the variety of items collected was mind-boggling. The transformation of the area we cleaned was night and day. We completed our stay in Tokyo by working with Japan’s first incorporated food bank, Second Harvest, as we sorted and prepared the pantry for the evening.

In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Love Button collaborated with Taiwan Love & Hope, engaging with children with severe disabilities through educational and artistic activities. We taught English, learned origami, drew what we were thankful for, unapologetically sang and shared a meal together.

Next we went to Jakarta, Indonesia, where Love Button joined Trash Hero Jakarta in waste cleanup efforts, promoting environmental awareness. Our volunteers collected 13.6 KG of waste, including 131 plastic bottles, 470 cigarette butts, 164 caps and 144 straws.

After a quick stop in Australia, we had our final location in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We teamed up with Fuze Ecoteer to collect and repurpose waste, emphasizing the importance of environmental stewardship. The Love Button team was able to collect 89 kilos of waste at Mangrove Point, which will be reused to create items such as keychains, earrings, necklaces and more!

From São Paulo to Kuala Lumpur, Love Button’s volunteers illuminated the path of kindness, weaving a tapestry of love and goodwill.

We thank all of our volunteers, organizations we partnered with, Coldplay, Global Citizen, and anyone else we worked with. Without all of you, this wouldn’t have been possible.

This journey was not just a tour; it was a celebration of humanity, a testament to the belief that love, when shared generously, has the power to heal, uplift, and unite communities around the globe.

Here’s to 2024!