If you try hard enough, you can find connections between any two people — even yourself and a celebrity. Three students at Northern Secondary School used this idea to create a unique autism awareness campaign.
Emily Albert and Mia Kibel, along with student and autism advocate Carly Fleischmann, launched the Six Degree Project in January. Their goal was to utilize connections to celebrities and get famous faces wearing their custom blue scarves in public, increasing the public’s knowledge of autism.
“People that I tell about the project, their initial reaction is ‘Who do I know, how can I help?’” explains Albert. “I really have learned so much from the project. [Carly] is really inspiring, the way she’s able to advocate for herself.”
Celebrities including singer Michael Bublé and mogul Arlene Dickinson have donned the scarf in public, but the team is still working on fulfilling their wish list of stars such as Brad Pitt, Justin Bieber, Ellen DeGeneres and Dr. Phil. The scarves are available for purchase at thesixdegreeproject.com.