_Pink Carnation Day
May 3rd
_
Join dozens of
schools, businesses, and members of the local community as they celebrate the 3rd annual Pink
Carnation Day, sponsored and supported by Hayley’s
Hope Foundation!
Started in May 2011, it is a day to celebrate paying it forward with random acts of kindness. “Words can hurt, but they can also heal” is the organizations motto for this day filled with good thoughts. Originally started by the family of teen Hayley Blowers who tragically chose to end her life at 16 years of age, it was a way for them to remember her on her birthday. It has since grown into an international day of remembrance and good will, not only sweeping across the United States, but has also touched the shores of England, Ireland, & Australia! FAQ’s: What is Pink Carnation Day (PCD)? PCD is an annual event celebrated each year on May 3rd. The premise behind PCD is that everybody needs to feel like they are important. This is not a day for boyfriends/girlfriends to pass out flowers to each other, but rather to someone that is having a bad day & needs a pick-me-up or a word of encouragement; to a stranger; someone that one has had a fight with and doesn’t quite know how to make-up with them or apologize; etc. You may also want to enclose a short simple written message with your carnations: You Matter! ; You Are Important! ; I Hope You Have A Nice Day! ; I Believe In You! ; etc. In the past, we received testimonies of carnations being passed through as many as 7 pairs of hands before they finally ended up with the person who really needed it. Paying it forward – what a lovely way to do it! Why May 3rd? May 3rd was Hayley’s birthday, and the Foundation thinks it is a fitting tribute to remember her and honor her memory as they proceed with their mission of preventing more teenage suicides. How can I / my school / business participate? Simply by passing out pink carnations! May 3rd doesn’t work for my organization. Can we still participate on a different day? We understand that the actual date may not work for some organizations. While we prefer it to happen on May 3rd, please do not let that stop you! We ask that you hold it to the soonest possible date. Can we do this as a fundraiser for our school? Of course! As long as the message is about hope & positive messaging and you advertise that this is for Hayley’s Hope, if you choose to sell the flowers for a fundraiser, that’s fine with us! |
_ Can we donate a
portion of the proceeds to Hayley’s Hope?
Certainly! While this is not a criteria to participate, we would be very happy to receive any donations to the foundation. We are a non-profit organization and all donations are always very welcome! How can I get carnations? Do they need to be fresh flowers? Contact your local florist (we recommend at least 2 weeks before the actual date). Explain to them what this is for, and indicate how many you need. Some florists may be able to work with you and provide a discount, depending on how many you intend to order. While fresh flowers are always nice, they do not have to be for PCD. You can make tissue paper flowers to distribute, purchase silk carnations, or even make flower-shaped candy lollipops (in pink of course)! Whatever will work for you and your community! How can something good come out of something so sad? Those that knew Hayley knew that she always had a smile on her face and a kind word for those that she encountered. For example, she was always texting her friends in the morning with “Good Morning, Sunshine!” The Foundation wants to continue her legacy of kindness, and what better way to do it than with flowers, a kind word, and a smile! Should we / can we report how well we did? Yes, we would love to hear from you! We will have a page set up on our website for totals and comments/stories of how your event went. We want to hear your stories! Please report your totals between May 3rd-May 10th. We cannot participate this year, but would like more information about Hayley’s Hope. How can we find out about the organization? Email us at HayleysLegacy@hotmail.com and one of the Foundation members will be happy to contact you with more information. How do we pass out/sell the carnations? That is totally up to you! As an individual, you may simply pass them out to friends, strangers, classmates, family members, co-workers, teammates, etc. As an organization, you may want to have a table set up. Whatever works for you. If there is a certain club in your school that does outreach projects like this, they may be a good one to handle the event. You may want to donate the flowers to everyone that wants one; you may want to sell them. Contact us if you need ideas on how to get started. Do they have to be pink? While we do prefer the carnations distributed to be pink (pink was Hayley’s “signature color” ), you can mix up the colors to include white, hot pink, baby pink, salmon, variegated, etc. For more information or questions not posted here, please email us directly at HayleysLegacy@hotmail.com |