Love billboards go up in Marshalltown
T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - Another Love on Every Billboard Sign greets traffic on 12th Avenue.
An effort in the Pacific Northwest to spread love across the country has come to Marshalltown.
The messaging of the Love on Every Billboard project is simple. A billboard is chosen and the word “Love” is emblazoned across it for pedestrians and residents to see.
“I love the fact that there’s nothing associated with it. There’s no group, there’s no company, there’s no advertising, it’s just simply love,” said health coach Jody Wunsch of Marshalltown, who helped bring the project to central Iowa.
She said she learned of the project while at a professional retreat in California shortly after the July 19 tornado tore up a swath of northern Marshalltown.
“I was feeling kind of guilty about leaving my town in that kind of state,” Wunsch said.
T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - One of the Love on Every Billboard signs sits along North Third Avenue on the north side of Marshalltown.
At the retreat, she met Love on Every Billboard President and fellow health coach John Pogachar of Spokane, Wash. The two met and Pogachar later posted about his project on a health coach Facebook page.
“It just touched me, I thought ‘Wow, what a neat thing for Marshalltown,'” Wunsch said.
Pogachar said he’s worked to put up four billboards in Spokane and one in Pittsburg after mass shooting at a synagogue in that city. Marshalltown’s signs have brought the project to the Midwest.
“I wish the best for (Wunsch), and I hope the town can just embrace the love,” he said. “If they can just sit and be in that love, I just know it’s going to help them heal. It’s going to help rebuild your town of Marshalltown.”
Wunsch said she and her husband purchased one of the two billboards, while Pogachar purchased the second billboard. One is currently up and located across the street from Riverview Park on North Third Avenue. The other billboard is located on 12th Avenue next to the Central Iowa Fairgrounds.
“My intention is that people would see these billboards … and they’ll feel love and then maybe act on love,” Wunsch said.
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- T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS – Another Love on Every Billboard Sign greets traffic on 12th Avenue.
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- T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS – One of the Love on Every Billboard signs sits along North Third Avenue on the north side of Marshalltown.
The billboards are set to stay for a month, but Wunsch said she is seeking help keeping the signs up longer and expanding to more billboards across town. She can be reached at 641-751-1637 or at iphcoachjody@gmail.com.
For more on the Love on Every Billboard project, visit https://www.loveoneverybillboard.com/
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Contact Adam Sodders at
(641) 753-6611 or
asodders@timesrepublican.com
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