Faith in Humanity: Couple forgoes traditional wedding to help others
Feb 10, 2015, 12:10 AM | Updated: 12:10 am
One of the most important days in the lives of most couples is their wedding day: celebrating the love of two people with a ceremony, beautiful rings, and, of course, cake.
For one New York couple, they decided to celebrate their love by performing one act of kindness in each state across the nation, CNN reported.
Mark and Ismini Svensson decided to completely forgo a traditional wedding ceremony in the midst of selecting a venue, opting for a quiet vow exchange in a courthouse instead.
“We were actually planning a big wedding reception and honeymoon,” Ismini said in an interview with CNN. “We realized that our way of celebrating our love would be different, and we came up with 50 Acts of Giving Back.”
50 Acts of Giving Back began nearly two years ago in honor of Ismini’s father, who passed away from a heart attack while hosting a charity event for under-served youth.
The Svenssons starting taking suggestions of sites to visit through social media, using the hashtag #50Acts. Word of their mission began to spread and people began donating to their cause.
With the donations, the Svenssons launched their non-profit charity, StayUNITED, which aims to “improve the quality of life in local communities by creating a brighter future for children and youth,” according to its website.
The Svensson family is not done yet – they plan to hit the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and Alaska, wrapping up the journey around spring of 2015.
