How a lip balm at Gustavus Adolphus college is encouraging students to be kind to each other

ST. PETER, Minn. — A new campaign at Gustavus Adolphus College is connecting students and fostering belonging with something a lot of people carry this time of year: lip balm.

Joshua Neumann created Kind Lips in 2017 after walking around the North Loop and realizing no one was connecting.

"Saying hi is such an easy thing that all of us can do every day," Neumann said.

That's why he made it his mission to create a lip balm that would serve as a reminder to be kind every time you put it on.

He also started the "Be Kind Say Hi Initiative," a street sticker campaign reminding people to look up and say hi. Neumann believes this program will help build a friendlier and safer communities.

As stickers popped up across the North Loop, 70 miles away at Gustavus Adolphus College, Kate Dario was also trying to build connections.

"Walking around campus you'll see a lot of people with headphones on, oftentimes I'll try and say hi and wave, but sometimes it doesn't always go the way you want," Dario said.

Assistant Director of the Gustavus Fund Molly Milinkovich was aware of Neumann and his work. So, they worked together to get the be kind, say hi stickers up around campus.

"You'll see people look down and look up and see if there's someone else in front of them to greet," Milinkovich laughed.

It was such a hit on campus, that Neumann made the trip to see students signing a kindness pledge.

Name after name, the board filled up and in return, a free tube of kind lips.

"It's just a reminder that people are here and it's not a hard thing to be nice," Dario said.

Connecting in a new way, all thanks to a small gift with a big message.

Kind Lips also donates 20% of every product purchased to anti-bullying organizations.