Snapchat for #SocialGood - In All 50 states.

Hi, I’m Chris Strub, and I’m a doer.

This summer, I visited youth organizations in all 50 states over the course of 100 days. I left my job and my apartment in Greenville, S.C. on May 15, and circled the country, finishing the trip in Asheville, N.C. on Aug. 21, two days shy of my 30th birthday.

I tried really hard to find sponsorship for this adventure before I left, because I thought it would be a terrific opportunity for a brand, or brands, to support positivity and #SocialGood around the country.

I failed. But I wasn’t going to let not having a sponsor stop me. So I went anyway.

I’ve been featured for being the first person to live-stream in all 50 states — mostly on Meerkat — but I also used Snapchat in all 50.

The most important part of my Snapchat use was the interviews, all of which you can view here. I’m a journalist at heart, and recognized that I could use Snapchat’s video tools to conduct concise, entertaining interviews with the organizations — and many of the kids — along the way. You can watch ALL of the interviews on my Facebook page here.

But hey, who has time for videos? I encourage you to watch them, obviously, but today, I’m going to share screenshots from all 50 states. I’ll even throw in a bonus one from Alaska and Hawaii, since those are the states you’re most likely to not have seen.

Some of these photos are more “boring” than others. It’s tough to plan and execute a solo 50-state, 100-day road trip, so I tried to be as creative as possible along the way, but I hope you’ll cut me a bit of slack. Each one of these photos — plus the 1000+ in my phone — has a story behind it, and before I show them to you, know that I would be extraordinarily eager to connect with you on any social media platform to tell you more about it.

The first stop was the Carolina Youth Development Center in Charleston, S.C., where I couldn’t take pictures of the kids I worked with. Then I went to Savannah, Ga., and met Curley Green at the Youth Futures Authority, before heading further south and meeting these wonderful ladies from HandsOn Jacksonville.

In Montgomery, Ala., I met Mayor Todd Strange. He even did a Snapchat interview with me. Then I drove to New Orleans, where I got to throw out the first pitch at a Zephyrs game. It was already my fourth first pitch of the summer — I did the same in Charleston, Savannah and Montgomery, too.

I met Lucas at the Jackson, Miss., YMCA, and he wouldn’t let me leave without taking a selfie with him. He even made me take a second one because he didn’t like the first one. Then I went to Memphis for the first time, and among the fun things I did there was walk … in Memphis. (Most Snapchat viewers might not get the reference.)

I didn’t volunteer in Joplin, Mo., but I did take some sweet Snapchat photos in front of the mural there. Then, I went to Wichita and met “D” at Coleman Middle School. In Oklahoma City, I worked with Sunbeam Family Services. Didn’t do a ton of Snapchatting there, but did capture Erin signing “TRUST YOUR CRAZY IDEAS” on my car, which is one of my favorite quotes.

OK, so I threw in two pictures from Texas. The first one is from Hard Rock Cafe San Antonio, where they let me sign the famed wall with my favorite quote. Then, I made my first visit to State Street and had this awesome brunch. I hope to come back to Austin for SXSW, if only to eat that meal again. In Las Cruces, you see Dawn Starostka of Big Brothers Big Sisters being interviewed on TV. That was always cool.

And on we go! In Tucson, I interviewed Dave Martin of Youth On Their Own. Keep an eye on that organization — it’s a terrific concept that can work anywhere in the U.S.! In California, I met some friends I’d connected with through live-streaming: April De Leon, Niv Dror, Brandon Yano and, the shaggy-haired, tattooed guy, Steve Isaacs. Understandably, we had to Snapchat the moment. In Las Vegas, I took a ton of terrific Snaps at Opportunity Village, including this one with Reggie.

In Salt Lake City — actually, Magna — I worked with Utah G.A.R.D.E.N.S. The middle picture is out of order — that actually came in Oregon, when I saw Burger King doing some creative Vine campaigns. It sure would’ve been cool to Snap from BK’s across the country, but that was the only one I reached. On the right is Melissa Bixby and the crew from Girls on the Run Treasure Valley. She went out of her way to meet me on Father’s Day, which I still very much appreciate.

OK here you go — that’s me waking up in Seattle — actually, Tukwila — to catch a flight to Alaska. As you can see, sundown comes rather late in Anchorage.

I slept in my own car 13 times this summer, but the first time I ever slept in *any* car — overnight, that is — was in Anchorage, where I patiently waited for the sun to go down. Sleeping in your car really kind of sucks, but renting the car was obnoxiously expensive and again, I didn’t have a sponsor. On the right is the best meal I had all summer — yes, in a plastic to-go container. Ahi poke is absurdly delicious and I was honored that Jill Matro from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu offered to take me.

I promised no videos in this post, but I did want to share one from Honolulu and remind you that you can see ALL of these interviews on my Facebook page. If you go, please do me a favor and ‘like’ the page as well!

Saying goodbye to Waikiki Beach was tough, but I am optimistic I’ll be able to get back there someday. In Seattle, Anh Vo from the Inspire Youth Project signed the driver’s side front door, which means I still see her comments every day. And in Missoula, a reporter from the Missoulian joined us to help tell the story of NCBI as we painted the windows with the words “SAFE SPACE.”

So if you’re still reading at this point, awesome. I’d like to think the story is fairly compelling, because I put every bit of energy and passion I had into creating it. I’d mention again that the trip might’ve been a bit easier if I’d had some sort of sponsorship, but it almost feels more exciting that it wasn’t. Let’s keep going!

I loved stopping by and meeting the team from the Dickinson, N.D. Convention & Visitors Bureau. It made me wonder why CVB’s nationwide aren’t using this type of technology to share their own stories. In South Dakota, the wonderful people at Midas in Rapid City heard of my story and decided to give me an oil change on the house, which I will forever be grateful for. They also let me hang out with this dog while I waited, which was nice, because I was traveling alone and spent a lot of time by myself. Then, in Cheyenne, I met the coolest person I’d come across all summer. That’s Abbi, and she’s going to be the first girl president. Just watch.

Rapid fire now! In Colorado, I visited Casa de la Esparanza and helped cook chicken soup and sopapillas. I also led several heated games of musical chairs. In Lincoln, Neb., where I loved that geotag, I got to throw out yet another first pitch. And in Iowa, I questioned the geotag’s definition of Heaven as I woke up in my car again. I did not sleep very well that night.

In Minnesota, I did all sorts of cool stuff with a nonprofit that helps disabled youths grow through therapeutic horseback riding, but I wanted instead to share this selfie with Doug Schneider, who is one of the most genuine and caring guys I’ve ever met. There’s a cool geotag in Rochester, too, but this picture meant a lot to me because Doug has been a supporter and friend of mine since before either one of us was even on Twitter. Doug literally and figuratively put in a lot of legwork for me — helping contact media around the Midwest, and then driving from Green Bay to Rochester just to hang out with me and buy me dinner. Next, I made it to Wisconsin Youth Company in Madison, where we were able to get Kay Stevens, the Executive Director, on the air. And in Peoria, we got BBBS Heart of Illinois on both TV and in the newspaper by creating a magical experience for Felix and a number of other youths at a Peoria Chiefs day game (where I threw out the first pitch, too).

In Indianapolis, I stopped at yet another Hard Rock Cafe, which “supported” my trip by offering me a free meal at each cafe I could get to. My favorite menu item is their bruschetta, which I happily shared on my Snapchat all summer long. In Michigan, the owner of the Staybridge Suites offered me a room for a night before I visited Impression 5 Science Center, so I made sure to post a grateful selfie at the hotel before I left. I’d highly encourage anyone traveling through the midwest to stay at Staybridge Suites and eat at Hard Rock Cafe in Indianapolis — and I will make those same recommendations for the next however many years I’m alive — because they were both very helpful to me as the trip pushed on.

After one more night in the #HondaHotel — my nickname for my 2007 Honda Accord — I spent a great day with Lauryn from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (and Steve Sasman). I took a ton of snaps in Pittsburgh, but we were able to include a great call to action, plus the Steel City geotag — tactics that could be useful for any organization trying to reach an audience through SnapChat. (I should mention the city of Pittsburgh did give me a free hotel room for two nights — thank you! — but I arrived one night earlier than anticipated, which led to the #HondaHotel stay.)

If you’re still reading here, great! I know this is a long piece, but I hope the story is compelling, especially because I did start to physically run out of gas as I hit an exhaustive stretch of six states in seven days as we kicked off August. As a reminder, you can watch all of my interviews at every organization I visited on my YouTube channel, and if you’re with any kind of media organization, and you want to help me amplify this story — let’s do it.

Six states in seven days kicked off in Burlington! That’s a selfie taken at a Panera, which was my defacto office all summer. In Concord, the energetic and charismatic ten-year-old Destiny gave me a terrific tour of the Boys & Girls Club of Central N.H. And in Portland, I worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters, but I wanted to share this picture from outside of an Applebee’s because the influencers they worked with during their #TasteTheChange campaign, particularly Brian Fanzo, have been so supportive of me and the trip all along.

In Boston, I met Keith, better known as @PopCulture27, at Hard Rock Cafe. We only knew each other through live-streaming, yet he was so excited to meet me, he asked me to literally sign a shirt for him. In Providence, R.I., I stayed in the world’s comfiest bed — I think you can see it in my eyes — in a room very graciously provided by the Rhode Island CVB. And in Hartford, Conn., I think I came up with the single best use case of Snapchat I had all summer — I played official red-carpet (without the carpet) photographer at Draguation, a summer-ending ceremony for youths in one of the nation’s top LGBTQ programs to celebrate drag. As attendees — dressed to the 9’s, obviously — arrived, I offered to take their photo, and I posted all the pictures on my Snapchat story. I then handed them a business card with my Snapchat logo, and they were able to access my story to screenshot and save their photos to their own camera rolls.

I actually made two stops in New York on the trip — officially, in Binghamton, which was squeezed between Pittsburgh and Burlington — but the fondest memory in N.Y. was getting to go out to dinner with my extended family in Commack. It was a brief trip home, though — I was off to Trenton, N.J., where Bruce Boyd of B.O.Y.D. left his mark atop the #HondaHotel. In Wilmington, West End Neighborhood House Executive Director is no stranger to doing media interviews, and I was able to land him not one but three different opportunities to talk about WENH — on TV, newspaper and radio.

In Baltimore, feeling the effects of exhaustion, I met up with R. Dupre — the nicest guy on the planet. We worked together to live-stream a surprise event for Pay Away the Layaway at a K-Mart in Dundalk. I adored meeting the team at ReadyKids in Charlottesville, Va. — it was one of the smoothest and most fun days of the summer. And when I made it to Charleston, I couldn’t help but smile at the cutest geotag I’d ever seen.

The final stretch! In Lexington, Ky., I put the humans on hold for a moment to snag a selfie with a horse at Central Kentucky Riding for Hope. Asheville, N.C., was the final stop on my trip, and I planned out a huge grand finale day, where I visited and interviewed six different youth organizations in a row — the last of which was Haley Shealy’s Boys & Girls Club of Asheville/Buncombe Co. Unfortunately, no local media responded to my request to cover this finale event — I thought it was pretty cool — but you could see and follow it all on my SnapChat story all day long. Finally, I made it back to Greenville, S.C. — also to little fanfare, although the Greenville News did write a story a couple weeks later — and you can see the longest my hair would get: I took this selfie on my 30th birthday, even though I obviously didn’t look a day over 29 and 364 days.

Flash forward four months, and I still occasionally rock the yellow shirt. I was invited to a Blab about Snapchat, run by the great Brian Fanzo, where I met Nick Cicero and Ben Phillips, and although I don’t currently have a role involving social media, I was totally honored to even be a part of the conversation. I’ve been Snapping Ben since the event, and tonight he asked me — via Snapchat, of course — to write a post about Snapping in all 50 states.

That’s my story, in Snapchat screenshot form. Fifty states, 100 days, and most importantly, 60 youth organizations — with no sponsorship, although not for a lack of trying.

As always, my immense gratitude to everyone — viewers, followers, fellow streamers, organizations, businesses, Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz for being my biggest fan, and especially everyone who’s donated in some capacity during and since the trip. The book is in the works — I paused working on it to piece this together for Ben — but you’ll be able to find it at www.TeamStrub.com sooner rather than later. In the meantime, you can see the full list of all the youth orgs I visited, as well as links to all the media, and if you feel so compelled, you can click ‘donate’ to make a contribution.

Reading on mobile? You can screenshot this and add me on SnapChat right from this code.

Finally, hey — add me on Snapchat. I’m @ChrisStrub and, although I’m not currently painting windows in Missoula, spreading mulch in Anchorage or sleeping in my backseat in Iowa, I hope my story is still a compelling one. I hope there’s much more fun to come ahead, and if you have any ideas on how to make that happen, keep in touch: chrisstrub@gmail.com.

These are my selfies with youth organizations in all 50 states. Every single one of these photos was taken via Snapchat. And though they’re gone from my “story,” they’ll always all be a part of MY story.

Want more? Enjoy this YouTube video of the Grand Finale in Asheville, N.C.

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