March Is..

The month of March is host to a number of awareness initiatives. Some seem to be a bit redundant on face value, but it is due to this that I think some may be overlooked. For instance, what is the difference between National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month and Mulitple Sclerosis Awareness Week? Well, to start with, they are sponsored by different organizations. The former being sponsored by the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, and the latter being sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Additionally, both organizations approach the initiative in different ways.

I encourage you to pick a cause - or perhaps two similar causes - from the following list. To make it easy, I have hyper-linked each initiative to the sponsoring organization's website. Personally, I feel that there are just too many causes out there to support them all. For me, MS hits too close to home as I have been diagnosed with the disease, so that is my cause. It is something that matters to me, so I am going to do my part to get the word out there. For others, this just won't be the case. Maybe you are, or know someone that suffers from cancer or another of the diseases/disorders on the following list. Or perhaps you just want to be more active and help others. Whatever your reason, don't spread yourself too thin by trying to support them all - doing so will only lead to burning yourself out. Then we would need to have a National 'Burnt Out on Supporting National Awareness Month' Month.

Each month has its own list of awareness initiatives. At the bottom of this list, you will find a link to my source. If one of these topics just doesn't move you, please click the link to the source so that you might be able to find a topic that does.

National Brain Injury Awareness Month
National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
National Endometriosis Awareness Month
National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month
National Nutrition Month
Save Your Vision Month
Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month

In addition to the above month-long initiatives, there are several weeks and individual days that have been flagged for different observances:

National Patient Safety Awareness Week 03/02 - 03/08
National Sleep Awareness Week 03/03 - 03/09
National School Breakfast Week 03/03 - 03/07
National Problem Gambling Awareness Week 03/09 - 03/16
Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week 03/10 - 03/17
Brain Awareness Week 03/10 - 03/16
World Kidney Day 03/13
National Inhalants and Poisons Week 03/16 - 03/22
National Poison Prevention Week 03/16 - 03/22
American Diabetes Alert Day 03/25
Root Canal Awareness Week 03/30 - 04/05

Source: 2008 National Health Observances, National Health Information Center, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.

One last point, just because the month/week/day comes to an end does not mean the cause does! Lend your support to a cause, but don't let that support wane after the month is over.