In downtown Greenfield, just to the left of the City Building and before you enter the courtyard, stands a mailbox, the brainchild of a McClain High School student who wanted to do something to help bring the community together by offering encouragement, hope and inspiration.

AnnaJo Reeves, a senior at McClain, said she encountered a lot of people who were struggling and she was inspired to help them. She had an old mailbox and figured out a way to make that into something encouraging and interactive for the community.

There is stationary provided in the mailbox, and the idea is for folks to leave a note of encouragement — whether it be a favorite quote, Bible scripture, or just kind words — for someone else in the box. And those notes of encouragement are for anyone that may need them.

When the mailbox was first placed outside the City Building in mid-December, Reeves said she reached out to people that had inspired her so that those first notes of encouragement could be placed in the box and ultimately shared.

At the time the mailbox was placed, Reeves spoke to Greenfield City Manager Todd Wilkin about the project on a Facebook live, which is available on the village’s Facebook page.

For the last three months, Reeves said she has seen that people in the community are using the mailbox for the purpose for which it was created, to support one another. She has seen inspiring letters for the Greenfield community left from other community members. Many people have taken letters, she said, left prayer requests, and have written positive notes for others to read.

“I hope this mailbox brings the community together,” Reeves said, “and helps us lift one another up.”

The checkered mailbox stands at the ready to both receive encouraging notes and deliver them, too.

Angela Shepherd is a correspondent for the village of Greenfield.