ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — You may start to notice purple benches popping up all over St. Augustine, outside restaurants or in local parks.
The benches were scattered throughout the city by a local organization challenging the community to engage in compassionate and meaningful conversations with a stranger.
At first glance the purple benches look like any ordinary park bench, but once you sit down, you'll quickly learn it's here for more than just sitting.
Robin Thomas is executive director with Compassionate St. Augustine. The organization started the Purple Bench Initiative to challenge the way people in the community engage with one another, by promoting unity and civil discourse by giving people a place to come, sit down and have a conversation with a stranger and potentially leave with a new friend.
"We live in a polarized world. Everything is so divisive. So to come out and have a talk with someone you don’t know, you can learn something from someone," said Thomas.
The benches are located at 20 different locations in St. Augustine outside churches, businesses, restaurants and even homes.
Every bench has a QR code on it. Once you scan the code, it brings you to a page that explains the meaning behind the bench and even tells you who purchased it and why.
The color of the bench has a message as well.
"Purple is peace, so it’s a peaceful place," said Thomas.
With the purple benches just popping up around St. Augustine, you may see more in other places soon.
"We would to see our benches in Africa, Jamaica, England," she said. "We would like to see our benches not just in our community but in Jacksonville, worldwide, because of the message it promotes unity."
Whether you spend two minutes or two hours having a chat on the purple bench, you'll be guaranteed to leave with more than you came with.
To find out more information about the Purple Bench Initiative, you can click here.