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Love in Action

November 2025

The Heart of a Movement for Peace and Possibility

By Caitlyn Burrus | Photography courtesy of Love Does

In a world that often feels weighed down by division, violence, and despair, Love Does serves as a reminder that goodness is not lost—it is alive, moving, and present in the most challenging places.

FFounded by author Bob Goff in 2002 after a trip to India, what began as a small effort to rescue children from trafficking has grown into a global movement reaching more than 200,000 people each year in fourteen countries. But for all its reach, the heart of Love Does is disarmingly simple: love doesn’t just feel, it does.

It does the hard work of sitting with women who have lost everything in war and creating a safe place for them to be seen. It does the quiet work of serving meals to families who might otherwise go hungry. It does the brave work of opening schools in conflict zones, declaring through chalkboards and laughter that peace and possibility are stronger than violence.

“Whether it’s a child walking into a classroom for the first time, a woman finding safety after violence, or a refugee family being welcomed with a warm meal, the principle remains the same: love shows up, listens, and takes action,” says Jody Luke, president of Love Does.

Love Does president Jody Luke, founder Bob Goff, and Uganda country director Lavendah Namyalo

To witness the work is to see this truth unfold again and again. In Ukraine, Love Does created a boutique inside a hospital simply to hand out baby clothes and to offer women whose husbands had been killed or sent to the front lines a space of dignity and belonging. “A space that honors their strength and courage, where the power of community, kindness, and simply showing up for one another could begin to restore what violence tried to take away.”

There, among shelves of tiny clothes and bundles of blankets, a young mother found a flicker of joy as she prepared for her second child alone. Another woman, seven months pregnant and newly widowed, discovered she was not as isolated as grief had led her to believe. Their stories echo a truth that Love Does carries into every place it serves, says Jody. “These stories broke my heart—and also reminded me of something we see everywhere Love Does works: even in deep pain, love still shows up.”

That conviction sustains teams working in war zones, in prisons, in neighborhoods where hunger feels unrelenting. The pain they encounter is real, but so is the resilience. Jody recalls clinging to the wisdom of Mr. Rogers: “It’s not about pretending the pain isn’t real—it’s about remembering we aren’t in it alone.”

And they never are alone. At its core, Love Does is a community. Every school, safe house, and food pantry is led by local staff who know their people best. Every project is born out of listening, not imposing. Donors from around the world join in by sponsoring dorm beds in Uganda or writing words of encouragement to children they may never meet, but whose lives they touch. Volunteers serve meals in San Diego. Students in “Love Does in Action Clubs” on college campuses create ripples of kindness in their neighborhoods.

Love Does in Action Clubs can be found on thirteen college campuses around the US, providing college students with a space to carry out the organization’s mission—“living out love in the most extraordinary ways.”

From the Dominican Republic of the Congo, where a volcanic eruption destroyed a school but didn’t destroy the determination to keep learning, to Uganda, where classrooms are filled with confetti and laughter, to a sunrise over a new dormitory reminding weary children they are safe, the message is the same.

Love is most powerful when it does.

Love Does has programs in many places around the globe, supporting children’s education, helping mothers find safe housing and support, aiding war refugees, and more.

“What started with one person’s dream has grown into a movement of thousands who together make love practical, personal, and real,” Jody reflects. And the ripple keeps spreading. Each classroom, each safe meal, each shared moment of dignity is proof that goodness is not passive. It is a choice, made again and again, to show up.