Welcome to the
100 People Project!
I’m Amanda Wettersten, a people-person from Illinois on a mission to make a meaningful connection with 100 people this year.
In short, the 100 People Project was born out of loneliness. After my family relocated in the spring of 2016, I found myself struggling to make friends; I had no one to invite and it felt like no one wanted to invite me. In my pity party, I remembered my grandmother, a fellow extrovert, who during a difficult time pulled out her church directory, started with the A’s, and began to invite every family in her little country church to dinner. I figured if it worked for her, why not me? With no church directory to my name, I settled on a number: 100, which is, as we all know, the ultimate number for people under 6. As a former Kindergarten teacher, these happen to be my favorite people and I believe they know a thing or two about making friends. I rung in the new year of 2017 with the resolution to share a meal with 100 people. It changed everything for me.
Of course, 2020 came and burned everything down. Some things in a good ways, some not. I dusted off my resolution with a 2021-twist: no need for dinner, we’re just making meaningful connections with old friends and new in hopes that we might all feel just a little less alone. It worked so well I figured we might as well do it for 2022, 2023, and 2024. So come along, I’d love for you to be one of my people, and if you’ll have me, become one of yours, too.