Posted by on Jul 29, 2014 Views: 3413

Become a #NonprofitFriend!

Get ready for International Friendship Day on August 3!

What is Friendship Day, you ask?

Friendship Day was originally promoted by Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark cards in 1930 and later revitalized in 1998 by Nane Annan, wife of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and sponsored by the U.N. Department of Public information and Disney Enterprises, and was co-hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford. Believe it or not, Winnie the Pooh was named the world’s Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nations!

Then the further idea of World Friendship Day was proposed on July 20, 1958 by Dr. Artemio Bracho during a dinner with friends in Puerto Pinasco, a town on the River Paraguay about 200 miles north of Asuncion, Paraguay.  Out of this humble meeting of friends, the World Friendship Crusade was born. The World Friendship Crusade is a foundation that promotes friendship and fellowship among all human beings, regardless of race, color or religion. Since then, 30 July has been faithfully celebrated as Friendship Day in Paraguay every year and has also been adopted by several other countries.

Today, most people celebrate on the first Sunday in August.  Some friends acknowledge each other with exchanges of gifts and cards on this day. Friendship bands are very popular in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and parts of South America.  With the advent of social networking sites, Friendship Day is also being celebrated online!

How Do I Become a #NonprofitFriend?

This friendship day, GreatNonprofits invites you to friend a nonprofit by writing a review on greatnonprofits.org for your favorite nonprofit organization and sharing a positive review about that nonprofit! When you write or share a review, make sure to use the hashtag #NonprofitFriend!

Here’s to friendship!