At 17, Florida student builds global project sending messages of hope to prisoners in 105 countries

A simple letter can offer something that people behind prison walls may go without for years: a reminder that they are not forgotten. In Florida, 17-year-old high school student Megan Markus has turned this idea into a global volunteer initiative, sending messages of hope and human connection to incarcerated people.

Through her youth-led organisation, Paper Wings Project, she and a network of volunteers have sent more than 5,200 letters across all 50 US states and 105 countries and territories in just 18 months.Points of Light featured Markus in its Daily Point of Light series on November 5, 2026, recognising her efforts to connect with people in prisons through handwritten correspondence. The initiative also encourages recipients to write back, creating opportunities for personal conversations rather than one-way exchanges.