We're kicking off a new project here at SparkPeople. As an active member of the Community, your help is crucial to its success. We're calling it Reignite the Spark and the goal is for you to strengthen the connections you've made with other members and to provide encouragement for members that might be having trouble.

We want everyone to know that our Community is so strong and positive that even if you don't explicitly ask for help, someone from the SparkPeople community is going to reach out and offer a kind word or motivational thought. We want everyone to know that SparkPeople.com is not just a free weight loss website—it’s a global movement of people taking control of their health and helping others do the same.

As an active member of SparkPeople, you have probably supported or received support from a lot of members. (If you haven't had a chance to connect with others yet, you can learn why our community improves your likelihood of success.) But sometimes you lose touch with members that you've created friendships with. So we're asking every member to reach out to SparkFriends that you've lost contact with and see how their doing.

If you're going to reach out to old friends, it might help to look over the some of your personal archives to figure out whom you've lost touch with. (Make sure you’re logged in for these links to work). You can do this by going through your SparkMail sent folder or by visiting your Recent Message Board History.

If you've stayed in contact with all of your friends or you'd just like to reach out to a few other members that might need a helping hand, then we'd suggest browsing SparkPages to see who hasn't updated their page in a while. Once you identify who you'd like to reach out to, the best ways to connect with new friends is to send a SparkMail or a SparkGoodie, or add a comment to their SparkPage or recent blog posts.

The key is that you do something—anything—to let others know that you want to see them succeed! Help yourself and others to Reignite the Spark!