Bring your post
People started with words they had already shared online about gun violence, policy, or the need for reform.
#Posts Into Letters
Turn a social post into something Congress cannot scroll past.
#Posts Into Letters transformed online reactions to gun violence into physical handwritten letters to lawmakers, using a typeface created from Joaquin Oliver's own handwriting.
LAUNCHED / ACTIVE
2018
10K+
letters reported sent to Congress
1
handwriting system built from Joaquin's writing
Multiple
major international creative awards
WHAT IT IS
After a mass shooting, millions of people post anger, grief, and demands online. #Posts Into Letters asked a practical question: what if that same message arrived on a lawmaker's desk as a physical letter?
Change The Ref donated examples of Joaquin's handwriting so a custom handwritten typeface could be developed. The platform let people transform social posts into letters that could be printed and mailed — or sent automatically — giving Joaquin's handwriting a continuing role in the demand for gun reform.
HOW THE IDEA WORKED
Attention is only useful
if it moves somewhere.
CTR initiatives are designed to do more than communicate. Each one creates a path from attention to participation, accountability, remembrance, or action.
Write it in Joaquin's hand
The platform converted the message into a letter rendered in a typeface built from Joaquin's handwriting.
Put it on a desk
Instead of disappearing in a feed, the finished message could be printed, mailed, and delivered directly to elected officials.
IMPACT
Digital outrage became physical advocacy.
Creative-industry case studies reported more than 10,000 handwritten letters sent to Congress. The work earned recognition from Cannes Lions, The One Show, D&AD, the Clios, and the London International Awards.
WHY IT STILL MATTERS
The campaign made one of Change The Ref's core ideas literal: Joaquin still has a voice. It also created a repeatable model for converting low-friction online expression into a tangible civic action.
CREATED WITH
- Change The Ref
- AREA 23 / FCB Health Network
- Great Guns
- Collaboration and production partners
PERMANENT HOME
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This initiative lives here now.
Original campaign sites may change or go offline over time. ChangeTheRef.org keeps the full story, purpose, and legacy of this initiative accessible in one permanent place.