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• July 21, 2010

  The Fanmail "Pay It Forward" Challenge

  I want to thank you all so much. Your constant support is so amazing, so overwhelming that at moments I’m not sure where to put my feelings of gratitude.

   

  I receive an unbelievable amount of love from you, my fans, on a daily basis. And recently I was struck by an idea. It began when I had been away for two weeks, and upon returning home, well, to my North Carolina home, I was bowled over by the boxes and boxes of mail waiting for me at work.

   

  First, the actress in me thought, “Holy fan mail Batman!” Second, the environmentalist in me thought, “that is a LOT of paper!!” And third, the number crunching geek in me thought, “that must have cost a LOT of money!!!”

   

  And right then and there my idea struck. I counted the mail. Piece by piece. In every box. I made piles of large manila envelopes containing 8x10s. I made piles of standard envelopes, I made piles of postcards, greeting cards in colorful envelopes, odd sized packages, and even a few gift bags filled with knick knacks and gifts that some of you had personally left at the guard gate of Screen Gems Studios. I then did this with all of the mail that came in during those two weeks to Warner Bros in LA, and to the various offices of my ‘team,’ the Dream Team as I like to call them all, in Los Angeles. When they say it takes a village … trust me it’s true!

   

  And here is what I complied. I receive about 500 pieces of fan mail per month. Yeah. “OMG!!!!!” is right. There are approximately 60 (12%) oversized envelopes (meaning 8x10 or larger), 375 standard ‘legal’ envelopes (75%), 45 greeting cards (9%), 10 giftbags (2%), and 10 miscellaneous gifts (another 2%) – thank you my lovely French girls for all of the fabulous wine!! It is quite an array of stuff when you look at the numbers, isn’t it?!

   

  Now, to dive further into my geek-dom, I went online and searched office supply stores, and checked gift card & postcard racks at stores near me. Here’s where this post starts to look like a MasterCard commercial.

   

  10” x 13” Oversized Envelope:

  Postage: Anywhere from $2.50 (domestic) to $35.00 (international)

   

  Standard Legal Envelope: $0.20

  Postage: Anywhere from $0.44(domestic) to $2.00(international)

   

  Package of 8x10 paper $10.00

  On average there are four sheets per letter: $0.08

   

  Average greeting card: $1.99

  Postage: Anywhere from $0.44 (domestic) to $12.00 (international)

   

  Postcard: $2.00

  Postage: Anywhere from $0.44 (domestic) to  $14.00(international)

   

  Gift bag: $1.00 to $4.00

   

  Scrapbook: on average $14.99

   

  Bottle of Wine: $12.00 - $30.00 Seriously, you guys have brought me some reeeeeeally nice stuff!

   

  Knowing my fans care enough to put in THIS much effort: PRICELESS

   

  So when I add up all of these with the breakdown from above, you all spend approximately $2,250.00 per month to let me know you care! To show me that what I do, matters to you. There are no words to express my gratitude for all of you. Because you let me know that my work, my long hours, my dedication, and days spent sobbing or running through deserts in terribly uncomfortable shoes MATTERS. One letter here, a book of drawings and letters there, it probably doesn’t seem so hard. But look at what it adds up to you guys!! And then my brain really went into overdrive.

   

  I have to be honest with you. My little math project was the most contact I’ve had with fan mail in some time. Not to be a downer in the middle of my soapbox moment, but once you read enough creepy, vulgar, or hideously graphic letters, you stop opening your mail. Period. The rewards no longer outweigh the risks. Because while some of you have written things so meaningful that I’ve been brought to tears, the scary stuff stays in your head far longer than the nice stuff does. And thus for the past few years I have driven my mail to the recycling center, said thanks to the trees who sacrificed for me, and bid them adieu. There is a guilt that comes along with this. A sadness that many of you, and your kindess, must miss out because of a deplorable few. But self-preservation is a strong human instinct, and we actors are a very sensitive bunch, myself in particular. So I heave the boxes of mail into the recycling bins with a heavy heart, but I do it none-the-less. Because of this I have wondered how on earth I could find a way to read your words, the kind and good words, and avoid the unsightly. I am not a person who would ever ask a friend to go through my mail. Nor do I feel right hiring a service, who send back scanned autographs to fans; fakes in place of the real thing. And those seem to be the options. So I’ve been stumped. Until now.

   

  As many of you know, I have taken a leap of faith recently. I’ve jumped. And it was scary to begin, but it has been so so so rewarding. I have opened my life up to all of you in a way I never thought I would because I could no longer bear to be silent. The oil spill pushed me over the edge. And I started to Tweet. And then to rally. And then to rage! And you have all been there with me. And now, Crowd Rise has opened a new avenue. In the past few weeks you have all been amazing, signing petitions and making donations to the causes I have tweeted about. But now, with the ease of Crowd Rise, you have really risen to the occasion. Like an army of do-gooders! Lady GaGa calls her fans her “Little Monsters.” Well you all are my “Little Voices.” You are each a voice, a movement, a power unto yourself. And as we love, talk, share, grow, and educate one another, you take your new ideas and opinions and share them with the world. And our voice gets louder. Our power grows. And from it comes our new positivity.

   

  So my Little Voices! I ask you to do this with me. In the spirit of “paying it forward,” in the spirit of saving paper, and in the spirit of making our voices heard, join me in this experiment. Stop sending paper fan mail. Start making a difference. Whatever you would have spent on a letter, a scrapbook, yes, even a bottle of wine (le sigh), pay it forward! Visit my crowdrise page, at www.crowdrise.com/sophiabush, and donate the cost of whatever that letter, or scrapbook, or bottle of wine would have been. Contribute $2.00, $5.00, $10.00, $40.00, or $400.00!! And post a message on my page. Because I actually read those! And I will see your words. You can post a photo, a story, a favorite quote from my show or one of my movies, and I will see it. And I will smile. And we will waste no paper. We will raise money for people who need it. Because your little voice, your one little letter, adds up to $2,250.00 a MONTH! Imagine if we raised that much, and more, this month. And next month. And every month. Imagine how loud our voices will be then.

   

  I love you guys. I love you more now than I ever have. Because I took a leap that terrified me, and you caught me. And you reminded me of the good in people. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have spoken to me, and taught me something that I will never forget.

   

  So please, join me. Make your Little Voice heard. Let’s get loud. Let’s scream and shout. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Ghandi said that last part. I wish I could take credit for that, but I can’t.

   

  Love, Love, Love,

  Sophia

   

   

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