The inspiration for the concept of the Yellow Ribbon Project was derived from a popular song in the 70's - 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the old Oak Tree'. The song itself was based on a supposedly actual incident in the USA about an ex-offender, who had just been released from prison after serving a 3-year sentence for fraud. He was onboard a bus bound for his hometown in Florida and had explained to the driver that he had a hand written a message to his wife that if she was still willing to accept him back, she could let him know by tying a yellow ribbon around the only oak tree in the city square. As the bus rolled down the road, nearing the man's hometown of White oak, Georgia, the driver was requested to slow down so that all the passengers on board could see whether the ribbon was in place. To the man's tearful relief, it was! There were hundreds of yellow ribbons on the tree. The driver pulled over and phoned the press and the news subsequently spread across the country. Songwriters Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown read it in the newspaper and were inspired to put together their million dollar-selling ballad.
Keys to unlocking the second prison
"I'm really still in prison and my love,
She holds the key,
A simple yellow ribbon's what I need to set me free."
The three lines from the song above aptly describes the ex-offender's helplessness and need for acceptance and forgiveness from his loved ones and the community to set him free. This is because every offender encounters two prisons. The first is the physical prison and the prison officers hold the key to this first prison. However, it's a matter of time before their release from this first prison. Once they are released, the ex-offender enters into a second prison, which is the psychological and social imprisonment. The "she" who holds the key to the second prison, refers to the ex-offender's family, friends, neighbours, employers, colleagues, volunteers, religious groups and the community at large. In other words, everyone holds the key to unlocking the doors of this second prison.
Hence, the simple yellow ribbon was chosen as the iconic symbol of the project with the hope that it would one day become a self sustaining grassroots movement. It also formed an integral part of the design of the signature Wear-A-Yellow-Ribbon activity, where members of the public were encouraged to wear the simple cloth yellow ribbon pin as the show of acceptance and an offer of forgiveness and second chances towards ex-offenders who sincerely wanted to change.
The past year has been a time of economic turmoil. When surviving
the crisis has taken top priority, can and should large corporations
still practice Corporate and Social Responsibility? To answer this
question, the CSR Student Movement is organising our annual CSR
Awareness Week around the theme of "CSR Through Thick and Thin". We've
got an exciting line-up of companies to showcase their CSR efforts that
will be sure to pique your interest. Register for the talk here. 
Yellow Ribbon Project
