Support International Day of Pink April 10th 2013 and Celebrate Diversity and Social Inclusion

Did you know that wearing pink could help take a stand against discrimination, bullying and homophobia? That is what the Canadian-born Day of Pink on April 10th, 2013 is aiming to accomplish.

courtesy of dayofpink.org

The impetus of the International Day of Pink was when two Grade 12 students, David Shepherd and Travis Price, took action against bullies harassing a Grade 9 student for wearing pink at their high school, Central Kings Rural High School, in Nova Scotia. The bullies were calling the younger student derogatory names and threatening to beat him up. When Shepherd and Price heard of the incident they decided enough was enough and went out and purchased 50 pink t-shirts and tank tops and emailed their classmates to wear pink in support of their “sea of pink” stance against bullying. The students rallied and news of their “sea of pink” activism spread across North America inspiring other schools to hold their own “pink day” and even garnered the interest of talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

“Anyone can bully, any can be victimized by bullying, but together we can stop it.”

Hundreds of students wore pink in support of “sea of pink” on that day in Nova Scotia back in 2007 and today millions of people wear pink on International Day of Pink to celebrate diversity and social inclusion and stand against “Bullying, Discrimination, Homophobia and Transphobia” through activities taking place in “workplaces, organizations, communities and schools.”

You can find more information on the Day of Pink website including registering your participation and the following are tips on how you can get involved:

• Wear pink on April 10, 2013! (Note that in British Columbia, the Day of Pink 2013 was February 27, 2013).
• Connect with your local politicians about becoming a Day of Pink Ambassador. These ambassadors are politicians willing to publicly take a stand in support of this movement and it’s cause.
• Get Free Resources or Order Supplies
• Find out more about activities you can do in your school, community, business or organization.
• Learn about the causes of discrimination and what you can do to solve this problem.
• Order T-shirts which range in price from $6-$12.
• Donate
• You can also follow the Day of Pink movement on social media: twitter @jersvision, Facebook  and tumblr.

Jer’s Vision, a “leader in anti-bullying and anti-discrimination programming”, is the presenting partner of International Day of Pink. The organization works “to eliminate bullying, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination in schools and youth communities.” Sounds like a perfect match to me.

“Day of Pink is more than just a symbol of a shared belief in celebrating diversity – it’s also a commitment to being open minded, accepting differences and learning to respect each other.”

I have written about many anti-bullying efforts including Lady Gaga’s launch of her Born this Way Foundation and Born Brave bus and the start of the You Can Play Project which teamed LGBT Athletes and Straight Allies. I will continue to write about these efforts because I, individually, and we, as a company, feel it’s important to help spread awareness of the pervasive presence of bullying and homophobia in our culture. Miratel is proud to be participating in International Day of Pink and joining with the millions of people who will be wearing pink “to remember that positive actions make a difference. And that the change starts with each one of us.”

Rick Mercer wants you to WEAR PINK

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZO7N4tqXIw[/youtube]

___________________________________________________________________________________

For nonprofit, nonprofit fundraising, CSR business and other news, connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Pinterest or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.