National Grandparents Day

National Grandparents Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day, which is September 8th this year. Marion H. McQuade first championed the idea for this celebration and her descendants created a nonprofit organization, the National Grandparents Day Council. The organization website states:

"Our goals are to honor grandparents and to strengthen
the bond between grandparents and grandchildren.
Additionally, we strive to draw compassionate attention
to the eldest of society's elderly--those in nursing homes."

How can you celebrate National Grandparents Day? The National Grandparents Day Council has a "Forget-Me-Not" Nursing Home Visitation program. The idea is to visit isolated, homebound elderly people or elderly people who live in a nursing home.  According to the Council,  "statistics state that as many as sixty percent of nursing home residents NEVER have a visitor." 

You can make a big difference in someone's life by visiting and talking with them. You can set up these visits by contacting local nursing home staff or contacting local eldercare programs. You can learn more about the "Forget Me-Not" program here.

President Jimmy Carter approved the first National Grandparent's Day in 1978. Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau provides statistics about grandparents and their role in society. Here are some highlights of the 2012 statistics (these statistics are from the 2011 American Community Survey):

• 7 million grandparents had grandchildren under the age of 18 living with them.
•  5.5 million children in the U.S. live with a grandparent.
•  2.7 million grandparents are responsible for the basic needs of at least one grandchild.

You can read the whole article here .