What gives life meaning?

At 16, Erin Mak has grown up in a world where nearly everyone is connected by phones, text messages and social media. Yet she’s noticed something about all those connections: People can still feel terribly alone. “I feel like a lot of people are feeling increasingly more isolated, not because there’s not people surrounding them, but because they don’t feel that they can reach out,” she said. Her response is decidedly low-tech: a wall where strangers leave handwritten messages of kindness, encouragement and hope, reminding one another that they matter. This week, Mak is bringing that idea to the San Mateo County Center in Redwood City as part of United Against Hate Week, Oct. 18-24. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to vote on a proclamation declaring the week a time when “differences are celebrated, and opportunities for connection, understanding, and collaboration are encouraged.”

The “Unity Wall,” as Mak calls it, invites anyone passing through the lobby of 500 County Center to write a message for someone they may never meet. Visitors are encouraged to stop and read what others have written. For Mak, a junior at Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough, the idea began several years ago with a question much bigger than a school assignment: What gives life meaning?