GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — If you needed a sign to smile, Michael Whipple will literally give you one.
Every day, he stands on the corner of Lane Avenue NW and Second Street NW in Grand Rapids trading spare change for smiles.
“Why not just be uplifting?" he told FOX 17 Monday. "All these smiles I get, my endorphins go up, so I feel good when I go home.”
By now, he's a bit of a celebrity in the area.
“He’s there every day and he gets a smile every day," one driver said as he passed through the intersection.
Every day, Michael is out there with a different handmade sign. He's made more than 500 total.
“Well, it’s very simple. It’s called 'Google kids' jokes,'" he said.
This tradition dates back five and a half years. Although, he didn't have any joke written on the one that started it all — just a single word.
"The first sign I held out here said 'Smile.' That’s all," he said. "People loved it.”
That was the start of Whipple's nickname — fittingly, it's "Smiles."
“I’d walk over to Bridge Street Market or something, and the next thing you know, ‘Hey, Smiles’ and all this other stuff," he said.
"Smiles" is a West Michigan native. He graduated from Caledonia High School in 1972. He's a veteran and a retired bartender.
"I got quick with it being a bartender because [when] you make people happy in the bar, they tip better," Whipple joked.
You'll find the 70-year-old out there two to three times a day. He's not homeless. In fact, he lives just down the street.
He does this in part to pay utilities and rent to supplement his social security, but that comes secondary to the connection he's made with the community.
"People come [and say], 'I don’t have any money.' I said, 'All I want is your smile.' Then they smile and they feel better," Whipple said.
Whipple told FOX 17 he's a "modern man." In case you don't run into him on the street corner, you can always donate to his Venmo or CashApp at @smileswestside.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
