Proof of impact in Phinney Ridge
By Bella Sison
Izzy and I had a great time visiting Phinney Ridge in Seattle for outreach on Wednesday, June 14! We took a couple buses to get to North 85th Street, where we visited several businesses on Greenwood Avenue North and continued south on this road and Phinney Avenue. We found that this was a perfect location for outreach - there was a large cluster of businesses at the beginning for us to circle through, plus the long road heading south with businesses all along each side.
The area was also quite receptive in terms of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly! Everyone we interacted with was friendly, and almost every business accepted a few sample copies. These businesses included toy stores, dentists, coffee shops, several salons, and more. We also gave copies to several restaurants, including where we stopped for lunch. Additionally, we found some “free library” boxes on the street, where anyone can take or leave reading material. These are great drop spots for copies of the Monitor Weekly because anyone in the community who is looking for something to read can discover them and take what they need.
One special interaction we had took place at a nail salon. We walked in and offered some sample copies to a manager, who was helping a customer while we spoke to him. He agreed to take some sample copies of the Monitor. As I went to leave the copies on a counter by the salon window, the customer spoke up and asked for one. She said, “I’m tired of just looking at my phone. I’d love something else to read!” We had a few different editions, so we let her choose one and then left the rest on the counter. This interaction was exciting for us because it showed that someone wanted the Monitor on their own, even without us specifically talking to them about it. It also confirmed our belief that salons are a great place for the Monitor, since customers often want something to read while either waiting or being treated. Even though the salon manager said they weren’t able to accept a gift subscription at that time, they still took the copies, and he was able to see for himself that there was an immediate interest in the Monitor from his customers. We were able to have an immediate positive impact on the customer there, and hopefully the Monitors we left will continue to impact future customers and workers.
Our day in Phinney Ridge showed us that even businesses that do not accept gift subscriptions yet can be directly impacted by receiving sample copies of the Monitor!