Team spreads joy with peanut butter jar messages

Esther Short — Every time a hungry kid reaches for this peanut butter, there will be an ego boost to boot. That’s because the Junior Joy Team has wrapped 920 jars of peanut butter — so far — with “positive, encouraging messages” before donating them to Share, said chief joy officer Michele Larsen. “We’re reminding these kids of the valuable, beautiful people they are every time they see that jar. The more they see it, the more they’ll feel it. And the more they feel it, the more they’ll believe it,” Larsen said. Unopened jars of peanut butter are still being collected for the PB & Joy project. They can be taken to Marshall Community Center, 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancouver; Firstenburg Community Center, 700 N.E. 136th Ave., Vancouver; Kazoodles toy store, 13503 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., Suite B-3, Vancouver; Body Bliss Yoga Center, 1887 Main St., Suite B, Washougal; Hough Elementary School, 1900 Daniels St., Vancouver; and Vancouver Umpqua Bank branches. The Joy Team is a group of 6- to 13-year-olds who are trying to make the world a better place through the power of positive, optimistic language.