| National Hugging Day tm January 21st |
| National Hugging Day (TM) Suggestions for celebrating National Hugging Day: Join or create a Hug Club (e-mail for suggestions on how to start a hug club) Substitute hugs for handshakes. Make or rent a bear costume and visit children or senior adults as a "Bear Hugger." Schools or Senior care facilities may wish to elect National Hugging Day Kings and Queens. Hand out National Hugging Day limited edition Hug Coupons (e-mail for details). Try to create the longest National Hugging Day chain. Hold a Hug-a-thon at your home, church, or just about anywhere! Always ask first and make the day fun for everyone, especially family and friends! _______________________________________________________________________________________ MOST HUGGABLE PEOPLE OF 2008 ARE... Jerri Brown from Decatur, GA. This "hug minister" states the two arms hug ministry is ministering in hugs every month on the 21st in her community. "As I hug someone, they have to commit to hugging three other people before the day is over." Pro Soccer Players Dean Ruddy (Mt. Prospect, IL) and Ross Smith (Toronto, Canada) for setting a new Guinness world record on June 1-2, 2007 for the number of hugs in a 24 hour period with 4,288 hugs on Chicago's Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave). They raised money and awareness for the charity Dreams for Kids. Both reside in Gravesend, England where they both play professional soccer. John Halcyon Styn. The flamboyant creator of Hugnation.com, he describes his Hug Nation as "a worldwide group hug. Those pesky oceans keep us from doing the weekly hug physically, so we do it virtually. Thousands of people around the world gather in front of computers to hug themselves and the people around them at a set time." 2007 winners were: Juan Mann, an Austrailian who embarked on an international crusade to encourage people to begin hugging others again (for more information, click on the link under "My Favorite Sites"); and Mata Amritanandamayi, otherwise known as Amma, from Kerala, India, is often called a "Hugging Saint." 2006 winners were: Reese Witherspoon, actress and Golden Globes winner; Jana Doolittle of Clio, Michigan; Nancy White of Monticello, Arkansas. __________________________________________________________________________ Famous Comments from Famous People "I'm tempted to start saying, 'Can we hug?' instead of 'Can we talk?'" (Joan Rivers upon being formerly nominated as a huggable person) ___________________________________________________________________________ The Value of a National Hugging Day "National Hugging Day is a different form of sharing. We've got more than our quota of whiners and far too few huggers these days. Most of us have a little person inside who needs human contact in this stainless steel, computerized society where we are kept at arms length. Consider hugging as non-sexual, like a handshake or a high-five. Such personal contact makes you feel good. A good hug warms relationships between people. That's what National Hugging Day is all about. We're not talking sex here. Part of the problem huggers face is this guarded age where hugs are easily misinterpreted and subject to a leering look or a lawsuit. A hug has a universal meaning of support, concern or just a way of saying, "I'm here." Chris Thompson, Saginaw News (MI) News Columnist "We need to know we're cared about... students need that. Most of them hug me back-it's our usual greeting." Rev. James Stein, Premontre H.S., Green Bay, WI "We encourage hugging. We have grandparents who hug the children who sit on their laps, and our staff people rub the children's backs at nap time to relax them. We didn't want to lose that closeness, even though people felt threatened by the "child abuse" label. I think Hugging Day is a wonderful idea. Every day should be hugging day." Mary Van Heuvel, Director, Green Bay Nursery Program "Hugs make everyone feel good. It's a way to know that someone cares. The need to be hugged doesn't change when you get older." Barbara Kuehn Schumacher, Mgr., Ft. Howard [Senior] Apartments, Green Bay "If somebody hugs you, you know you must be there or they'll go through you." Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D., and former author, educator and lecturer on the art of loving "Touch is life-giving, is healing. Touching really helps human beings. Talking doesn't do a lot for someone who feels rotten, but touch helps alleviate the pain and anguish. We don't lose the need for touch when we stop being babies. We basically need to be touched, although some people do not like to be touched and we have to respect that. A 1950's study of institutionalized children showed that even though the children received good physical care, good nutrition, were fed and changed regularly, they became sickly and psychotic years afterward. They didn't make it. They were never picked up and held. They suffered from a condition that results from the lack of tender, loving care." Rev. Langdon K. Owen, Director, American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry in Green Bay "For human beings, you need two hugs a day to survive, four hugs for maintenance, six hugs to grow." Virginia Satir, a Wisconsin Marriage and Family Therapist. -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Copyright 1986-2008 Kevin Zaborney |
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| Juan Mann and www.freehugscampaign.org |
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| Jerri Brown of Decatur, GA |
| Taylor, Jerri's daughter |
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| John Halcyon Styn |
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