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The Little Red Mailbox comes to community center

Life can be stressful, overwhelming and lonely at times. But one woman hopes to bring people together with a journal and a mailbox.

DANVILLE, Pa. — When you walk into the Danville Area Community Center, the bright red mailbox alongside a comfy chair is hard to miss.

It's the Little Red Mailbox, part of a national movement that was started in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, by a woman who lost her mother to cancer.

"Inside is a journal, and people just, on their way to the beach, just give their thoughts—whether they're having a good day or a bad day; some people write jokes," said Josette Zielinski, a lifeguard at the Danville Area Community Center.

Zielinski recently installed the Little Red Mailbox here in memory of her son Joe, who died in November 2008.

"When I got the idea, I decided then to decorate this mailbox with all the things that he loved," Zielinski said.

People are welcome to write in the journal and read what others have to say. You can be anonymous or leave your name—anything goes. Zielinski believes this is the perfect place for the mailbox.

"The people who come in, eventually they share their lives with us. We know about their health problems, their family problems, of course, we all go through them too," Zielinski said.

Zielinski hopes people use the mailbox to take the community aspect of the Danville Area Community Center one step further.

"And realize that whatever they're going through, someone else has already gone through," Zielinski said.

Danville is one of more than 20 different locations for the Little Red Mailbox project.

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