HUG4LOVE – Hug4Love movement

Want to feel better ?

Join the world's biggest act of kindness community!

- JP, architect of this mission!

Mission: Inspire 1,000,000 acts of kindness worldwide by 2030

Why?

Many of us have lost our sense of humanity, growing divided and overly individualistic. One way to reconnect is by sharing acts of kindness and engaging with others!

What is an act of kindness ?

It’s a selfless action intended to bring joy to someone else.

Per example: Give a compliment, give a hug, give a uplifting note, give a book, give a gift, give food, give flowers, give a gift card, give money —anything to make another person feel better!

Who is JP?

Born and raised in Montreal, Canada!

I was affected by the mental suffering of people around me caused mainly by loneliness and division.

I started offering acts of kindness to strangers every single day worldwide to make people feel better!

Vision

Inspire 1 million acts of kindness before 2030

Progress

Kind acts given: 31,093 / 1,000,000 Days in a row: 1061
Kindness contributor : 75 persons
Countries I contributed: 52 / 195

Values

Contribution
Connection
Well-being

You want to be part of the mission ?

Kindness adventure alongside the Founder

YOU are invited to a new unique life experience of distributing act of kindness alongside the architect of this mission.

This kindness therapy session will transform your life!

Testimonials of kindness group adventure

“J’ai vraiment adoré mon expérience de don de câlins avec HUG4LOVE! Donner et recevoir du réconfort d’une personne, qu’on la connaisse ou pas, ça fait un bien immense! Le monde entier a besoin d’amour, on a besoin de ça! Un seul câlin peut faire une très grande différence dans la vie de quelqu’un! N’hésitez pas à faire le grand saut!

Andy

First group hug distribution on October 20th, 2024! From left to right: Vanessa, Linda, Andy, Annie!

Testimonials:

Je vais toujours me souvenir du 20 octobre 2024. J’ai sorti de ma zone de confort, ce qui pour moi demande beaucoup de courage. Le sentiment de partager un câlin et discuté avec des inconnus m’a vraiment revigoré d’énergie, de dopamine et d’endorphines ! En plus, je suis reconnaissante d’avoir rencontré Linda, Annie et Andy. Une première sortie, mais loin d’être la dernière.

Vanessa

Il n’y a pas assez de mots pour décrire mon expérience de cet aventure qui est bénéfique pour la personne qui reçoit un câlin et la personne qui le donne. Un câlin, c’est un geste simple mais puissant, un vrai baume pour l’âme. Il réchauffe le cœur, apaise les angoisses et rapproche les gens. Donner un câlin, c’est offrir un moment de tendresse, un instant de connexion qui fait oublier les tracas de la vie. En partageant cet échange de douceur, on crée un espace de bien-être, où les sourires se multiplient et les craintes s’envolent. Un câlin est un cadeau précieux, un moyen silencieux mais fort de dire “tu comptes”.

Linda

Testimonials in French from kindness adventure experience

Kindness adventures & testimonials

Day 765 – Kindness adventure with Camille in Montreal, Canada

Day 646 – Kindness adventure with Joe in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia

Day 756 – Kindness adventure with Cathy Fuoco in Montreal, Canada https://www.cathyfuoco.com/

Day 770 – Kindness adventure with Kouki in Montreal, Canada

Day 726 – Kindness adventure with Jessica in Montreal, Canada

Day 760 – Kindness adventure with Alaanah in Montreal, Canada

Day 719 – Kindness adventure with Annalena in Montreal, Canada

More details about kindness adventure

WHAT'S INCLUDED?

-3 hours of kindness adventure alongside the founder where you’ll get a cocktail of healthy happiness hormone and a magic feeling of contribution to others by offering different acts of kindness.

-A video summary of our adventure posted on Youtube and other social media. *(See video example here)

-You’ll be part of history by getting your official kindness photo and number!

-You’ll get the exclusive ”JAY POSITIVIE WELL-BEING STATUS” by having your name written forever on our website as being a ”Well-Being Contributor”. *(See the list here)

-Positive visibility on your social media for your BRAND on all platforms

PLANNING OF THE ADVENTURE

1. We will meet a at certain time and location discussed per email and talk a little bit to get to know each other.

2. We install the kindness board, we start walking together, we talk, laugh, visit the area, and most of all, we seek people that we want to help. I shoot videos about our awesome journey. I’ll also ask your questions about well-being, mental health and psychology.

3. I’ll give you the EXCLUSIVE ”JAY POSITIVE WELL-BEING STATUS” that shows the world that you are a well-being contributor.

4. Few days later, you’ll see the video of our journey on Youtube.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

1. If it rains we can reschedule

2. Better wear comfortable walking shoes and clothes

3. If you want a kindness board like mine over your head, you must bring your backpack that has a laptop compartment to hold the rod.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Send an email at: jp@hug4love.com that contain:

1. The dates and location where you want to go on a kindness adventure

2. A link of a video of at least 45 seconds of you talking and describing yourself. Tell me about you, your passion, hobbies, interests and background. Show me that you have enough energy to participate and that you would be a good fit for this mission.

After your request made, I will get back to you. *(Your acceptance or refusal is based on the date, the location and your energy level in the video)

RULES

1. Most important rule : RESPECT OF EVERYONE

2. We are here for only one reason : Contribute to other people’s well-being while living a unique fun life experience and improve our own well-being.

3. No vulgarities will be tolerated, no alcohol, no drugs, no flirting, we stay 100% professionnal 100% of the time.

4. We are just respectfully, politely, showing our willingness to offer kindness and we wait for people that are comfortable with it.

5. We offer kindness to other and we let them get it by choice.

6. You’ll have to sign a release of liability.

Want to support this worldwide well-being mission ?

My formula to improve WELL-BEING

There are multiple ways to take care of our well-being. Here are 3 steps that works for me, therefore, I’m inviting you to give it a try.

Step 1: Growth

Learn and get to know yourself by stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things. Maybe starting a big or small adventure and realize your growth. You can learn with books and videos as well.

You can get inspire by other people stories and grow through their adventure!

Step 2: Contribution

One of the best way to improve our well-being is by giving, helping and contributing to others.

If you define how you like to help others, you can really make a difference for them and experience self-fulfillment! Any kind of ways is beautiful.

Step 3: Life experience

Define and live new experience like visiting new country, trying new activities, new restaurant, new sports, new hobby.

Exploring and trying new things will shift your focus out of your problems to the joy of discovery and having fun doing new things.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER BELOW

Interview on TV in Kosovo

Article in the Montreal Newspaper in French

Article in the middle east urban web journal

ABOUT the founder

My name is Jean-Philippe Marier, I’m from Quebec, Canada.

After seeing the negative impact of the pandemic and the social distancing measures on people’s mental well-being, I started to think about ways to help.

Since lots of people were missing physical touch and that a hug has so many benefits including improving mental well-being, I thought: ”I will give hugs everyday, everywhere around the world to everyone who wants”. That’s how HUG4LOVE is born.

Than I decided to mix my project with my biggest passion: self-development.

In order for me to reach my dream life of travelling the world and giving hugs to thousands of people, I had to transform. I had to change my mindset, grow my self-love (self-esteem) and learn how to discipline every area of my life (Physical health, Mindset health, Relationship health, emotional health, Financial health)

After almost 3 years of giving hugs, I realize that hugs are not for everyone and there are many other ways to contribute to other people’s well-being. Therefore, I expended to any acts of kindness for others.

I started the Movement in February 2022 by giving the first hug in Montreal, Canada and I never stopped. Watch my adventures around the world on Youtube

Contact:

Jay Positive, founder: jp@hug4love.com

JAY POSITIVE WELL-BEING STATUS

The JAY POSITIVE WELL-BEING STATUS (JPWS) is THE exclusive worldwide symbol confirming that you’re a well-being contributors.

The only way an individual can get it is by participating in a kindness adventure with me!

EMAIL for details: jp@hug4love.com

Kindness adventures of the past

More than 70 person worldwide decided to join me on a Kindness adventure to improve the well-being of others. The ”KINDNESS BUDDIES” have shown that they care enough about people to distribute acts of kindness. Here’s a list (see below) of the people who came with me and some of videos of KINDNESS ADVENTURE!

All those people received the JAY POSITIVE WELL-BEING STATUS that shows the world that they care about other human being.

Now it’s your turn to join me on a kindness adventure! You can simply write to me on Instagram, click the button below to have access!

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan – Day 481 – Nanita Shoniya

Koh Samui, Thailand – Day 623 – Sasitorn Thaksin

Koh Samui, Thailand – Day 625 – Buse

Koh Samui, Thailand – Day 629 – Nattaya Marakbut

Krabi, Thailand – Day 640 – Anna & Loui

Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia – Day 647 – Kim

Montreal, Canada – Day 698 – Jessica

Montreal, Canada – Day 696 – Catherine

Montreal, Canada – Day 740 – Rafaelle

List of all the Kindness buddies

#	Kindness buddy name	Day	Date	City	Country	# of hug stories
1	Florence	186	26/08/2022	Montreal	Canada	105
2	Nathalie	220	29/09/2022	Montreal	Canada	70
3	Clémence	221	30/09/2022	Montreal	Canada	45
4	Daniel Marier	242	21/10/2022	Montreal	Canada	49
5	Léa	270	18/11/2022	Montreal	Canada	60
6	Justine	340	27/01/2023	Essaouira	Morocco	27
7	Bob	343	30/01/2023	Marrakesh	Morocco	45
8	Lukas	365	21/02/2023	Barcelona	Spain	59
9	Saida	375	03/03/2023	Sidi bou Said	Tunisia	52
10	Francis	375	03/03/2023	Sidi bou Said	Tunisia	52
11	Amal	379	07/03/2023	Tunis	Tunisia	73
12	Maren	390	18/03/2023	Cairo	Egypt	18
13	Ismail	400	28/03/2023	Amman	Jordan	17
14	Alone	401	29/03/2023	Amman	Jordan	27
15	Santiago	420	17/04/2023	Antalya	Turkey	21
16	Deniz	423	20/04/2023	Antalya	Turkey	39
17	Lili	425	22/04/2023	Fethiye	Turkey	46
18	Dilchad	426	23/04/2023	Fethiye	Turkey	16
19	Janna Butulyan	441	08/05/2023	Erevan	Armenia	65
20	Lusine Arushanian	442	09/05/2023	Erevan	Armenia	27
21	Pantea Yoosefi	443	10/05/2023	Erevan	Armenia	27
22	Karine	443	10/05/2023	Erevan	Armenia	27
23	Zara Sahakyan	444	11/05/2023	Erevan	Armenia	43
24	Talant Sagynbaev	448	15/05/2023	Osh	Kyrgyzstan	43
25	Kural Chokoev	451	18/05/2023	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	78
26	Saadi Kozhobekov	452	19/05/2023	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	40
27	Suli Phonechik	455	22/05/2023	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	32
28	Ria	456	23/05/2023	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	63
29	Aglan Akpan	464	31/05/2023	Almaty	Kazakhstan	64
30	Sholpan	473	09/06/2023	Almaty	Kazakhstan	55
31	Angelina	474	10/06/2023	Almaty	Kazakhstan	59
32	Kbakhyt	476	12/06/2023	Almaty	Kazakhstan	51
33	Nanita Shoniya	481	17/06/2023	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	16
34	Nasiba	501	07/07/2023	Dushanbe	Tajikistan	29
35	Makenzie	552	27/08/2023	Hanoi	Vietnam	32
36	Kyand	559	03/09/2023	Ha long	Vietnam	15
37	Martina	576	20/09/2023	Phnom Penh	Cambodia	54
38	Michel	594	08/10/2023	Vang vieng	Laos	24
39	sasitorn thaksin	623	06/11/2023	Koh Samui	Thailand	40
40	Buse	625	08/11/2023	Koh Samui	Thailand	77
41	Nattaya Marakbut	629	12/11/2023	Koh Samui	Thailand	35
42	Momay	635	18/11/2023	Koh Samui	Thailand	33
43	Anna	638	21/11/2023	Phuket	Thailand	40
44	Loui	640	23/11/2023	Krabi	Thailand	23
45	Marlene	641	24/11/2023	Krabi	Thailand	34
46	Vivian	644	27/11/2023	Georgetown	Malaysia	23
47	Joe	646	29/11/2023	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	36
48	Kim	647	30/11/2023	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	41
49	Samantha	649	02/12/2023	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	42
50	Bhupi	650	03/12/2023	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	25
51	Herman	655	08/12/2023	Jakarta	Indonesia	15
52	Jing	656	09/12/2023	Jakarta	Indonesia	29
53	Kendra	658	11/12/2023	Yogyakarta	Indonesia	50
54	Aurelie	659	12/12/2023	Yogyakarta	Indonesia	20
55	Clarisse	660	13/12/2023	Yogyakarta	Indonesia	8
56	Magali	676	29/12/2023	Montreal	Canada	36
57	Syrine	678	31/12/2023	Montreal	Canada	18
58	Catherine	695	17/01/2024	Montreal	Canada	27
59	Jessica	698	20/01/2024	Montreal	Canada	31
60	Annalena	719	10/02/2024	Montreal	Canada	62
61	Jessica	726	17/02/2024	Montreal	Canada	41
62	Rafaelle	740	02/03/2024	Montreal	Canada	15
63	Cathy Fuoco	756	18/03/2024	Montreal	Canada	41
64	Alaanah	760	22/03/2024	Montreal	Canada	54
65	Camille	765	27/03/2024	Montreal	Canada	49
66	Kouki	770	01/04/2024	Montreal	Canada	47

ITINERARY

On January 13th, 2025, after 1057 days in a row, 31,093 act of kindness were given in 52 countries on 4 continents (America, Europe, Africa, Asia). And more than 70 ”kindness buddies” came to give kindness to strangers with me. Below you can see the number of people that receive their act of kindness per country. Watch all my expeditions on YOUTUBE

I invite you to follow my adventures on social media. I’ll post video daily on INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, TIKTOK, FACEBOOK

I am now planning my trip in South America!

Number of hugs per country

Day #	Country	Number of hugs
1	Canada	7788
2	France	183
3	Greece	435
4	Bulgaria	206
5	North Macedonia	188
6	Albania	448
7	Montenegro	400
8	Croatia	434
9	Kosovo	216
10	Serbia	175
11	Romania	240
12	Hungary	231
13	Bosnia and Herzegovina	36
14	Italy	63
15	Slovenia	124
16	Austria	267
17	Slovakia	114
18	Czech Republic	95
19	Poland	268
20	Germany	111
21	Lithuania	79
22	Latvia	120
23	Estonia	229
24	Portugal	6
25	USA	52
26	United Kingdom	8
27	Morocco	828
28	Spain	375
29	Tunisia	316
30	Egypt	308
31	Israel	148
32	Palestine	7
33	Jordan	214
34	Turkey	552
35	Georgia	231
36	Armenia	249
37	Kyrgyzstan	392
38	Kazakhstan	761
39	Uzbekistan	319
40	Tajikistan	84
41	UAE	6
42	Oman	1
43	India	737
44	Nepal	510
45	Vietnam	427
46	Cambodia	206
47	Thailand	976
48	Laos	252
49	Malaysia	239
50	Singapore	58
51	Indonesia	334

	Total	21046

Kindness Stories

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 1 – Hug story #1

Here is the first ever hug I gave for the HUG4LOVE Movement. When this man saw my FREE HUGS T-shirt, he opened his arms and I could read a smile In his eyes! He was delighted with my act of kindness.

Athens, Greece – Day 12 – Hug story #239

When we were at the airport, I offered a hug to this lovely lady. At first she hesitated but we ended up doing it. She told me that she felt super lonely and it was her very first hug since Covid19 started ! (Meaning 23 months without hugs)

Skopje, North Macedonia – Day 40 – Hug story #895

While my morning jogging, I offered a hug to this man. He said “I love you” during our hug. Than he told me he was going through some hard time right now and this act of kindness from a stranger was exactly what he needed.

Tirana, Albania – Day 46 – Hug story #1093

In Albania, we visited the bunker named ”BUNK’ART” and we met this family coming from Spain. The Spanish man agreed for the hug but added : I’ll do it under one condition, the hug must be at least 30 seconds. It was a fun moment.

Kotor, Montenegro – Day 58 – Hug story #1553

Pavle is a waiter in the beautiful city of Kotor. I met him while he was working and the moment he saw me, he stop everything he was doing and he gave me a hug. Than he said : ”Thanks God, there is finally someone doing this here, thank you, I needed that today”.

Prevlaka, Croatia – Day 61 – Hug story #1663

I have given a hug to this man who turned out to be with all his special police force crew. To congratulate me for the movement I started, they offered us drinks and even a car ride to go back to Montenegro!

Petrovac, Montenegro – Day 65 – Hug story #1844

We met Mathis while hitchhiking with him and since we got along pretty well we all spent the afternoon together. He told me he already have giving free hugs to strangers before the pandemic.

Bucharest, Romania – Day 78 – Hug story #2397

Here’s Rob, the owner of the fabulous T5 SOCIAL HOSTEL. Seriously the best hostel that I’ve been in my life so far. Rob’s priority was always to contributing to his community and since we shared that same interest, we bonded pretty quickly.

Zagreb, Croatia – Day 87 – Hug stories #2780 & 2781

I met Sarah and Nikola at my hostel, they are from Slovakia and they decided to spend the day giving hugs to strangers with me. Their energy level was to the roof and it made lots of people laugh!

Vienna, Austria – Day 109 – Hug stories #3494 & #3495

I met this lovely couple who just got married and they wanted to keep that wedding very small. Therefore, I was their official photographer in front of the church. I had the luxury of celebration their union by hugging them both.

Warsaw, Poland – Day 126 – Hug story #4153

I hugged this young lady who was raising money to help all the Ukrainians people while they were facing such a hard and difficult time! I had so much empathy for her help.

I was very happy to give hugs to a lot of Ukrainians refugee in multiple European countries. It must be horrible to have to leave everything behind you. I felt a huge feeling of contribution when they thank me for my empathy.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 161 – Hug story #5959

Here’s Elizabeth! She was so happy after our hug! But her story is the most touching! She told me she didn’t hug anyone for the last 3 years! She told me how the pandemic affected her and all the challenges she had to go through. That is why I started this movement. There are lots of people waiting for their hug.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 165 – Hug story #6276

I met this man in the Old Port of Montreal and after the hug he said: ”Thanks, I really feel lonely lately and I don’t have a lot of hugs, so I’m grateful for what you’re doing”

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 178 – Hug story #7524

When getting out of the Metro station, this man saw me giving hugs and ask me for one. He told me he didn’t give or receive hugs for 3 years! I was astonished and I gave him another hug straight away! He shared that after few months without physical touch from someone else, you start feeling down.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 221 – Hug story #8190

I met and gave a hug to Clémence on day 216 and she was astonished by my project. She loved the idea so much that she wanted to be part of it. So we planned to meet on day 221, I gave her a official HUG4LOVE T-shirt and we change many people lives in the old port of Montreal.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 274 – Hug story #9416

After I gave him a hug, he told me he was waiting for a sign to start seeing a psychologist to help him. He confirmed that I was that sign and he was very grateful for my act of kindness.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 318 – Hug story #9941

While their truck was stopped at the red light, one firefighter came out and gave me a hug. He also wished me a happy new year and said ”Thank you for what you’re doing”

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 325 – Hug story #9996

While I passed by that lady, she said ” Don’t ever give up”. It’s as if she knew I needed to her those powerful words at that very moment. When I gave her a hug she said ”that really means a lot, thank you”!

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Day 325 – Hug story #10,000

Here’s Hundi, we talked for 30 minutes about lots of different things like travelling, psychology, mental health and my HUG4LOVE movement. He was very happy to see my desire to help humanity.

The hug was given exactly at the same spot as the very first hug of the HUG4LOVE Movement ten months earlier.

Montreal, Canada – Day 327 – Hug story #10,020

While I was riding the Subway, a lady offered me a donut in exchange for a hug! It was a very fun interaction, she was very impressed by my mission and told me that in fact, there is a big need for hugs.

Rabat, Morocco – Day 347 – Hug story #10,483

I had one of the nicest Moroccan experience with my friend Annas here. Shortly after we met, we formed a little group and we cooked a tagine on a fire next to the beach! Super traditional experience and it was delicious.

Fes, Morocco – Day 360 – Hug story #10,916

I was going through my Tiktok comments on my videos and this guy, Abdennacer wrote to me that if ever I was visiting his city, I could live with his family! I actually did. I met his mom, his brothers and sisters and the nephew and nieces. They were all lovely people and I was so grateful for so much kindness, so much generosity! I will always remember you my friend.