“Couple Appreciation Month”: To show thanks for each other’s love and emotional support. Do something special to reinforce and celebrate your relationship.
“Daffodil Month”: To support cancer research. See www.cancer.ca.
“National Oral Health Month”: See www.cda-adc.ca.
“Parkinson Awareness Month”: See www.parkinson.ca.
“Poetry Month, National”: See League of Canadian Poets www.poets.ca
“Stress Awareness Month”: To promote public awareness of what stress is, what causes it to occur and what can be done about it. See www.stresscure.com.
“Alcohol Awareness Month”: To help raise awareness about the problem of underage drinking. Call 212-269-7797, email national@ncadd.org. See www.ncadd.org.
“Humour Month”: Special events in Canada and the US will focus on the joy and therapeutic value of laughter and how it can reduce stress. Email info@worldoflaughtertour.com. See humormonth.com.
Apr 1 “April Fools’ Day”: The joke of the day is to deceive persons by sending them upon frivolous and nonsensical errands; to pretend they are wanted when they are not, or in fact, any way to betray them into some supposed ludicrous situation, so as to enable you to call them “An April Fool.”
Apr 1 “Reading Is Funny Day”: April Fools’ Day is a great time to share riddles with children. It shows them that reading can be fun and funny. Riddles improve vocabulary, comprehension and oral reading, and enhance deductive and inductive thinking and develop a sense of humour. For info, Dee Anderson hm38th@hotmail.com.
Apr 1-7 “Laugh At Work Week”: Laughter and humour are vital to a healthy, productive workplace. Call Randall Munson 507-286-1331. Email humor@CreativelySpeaking.com. See www.LaughAtWorkWeek.com.
Apr 2 “International Children’s Book Day”: Observes Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday and commemorates the international aspects of children’s literature. Call 302-731-1600, email usbby@reading.org.
Apr 2 “World Autism Day”: see www.worldautismawarenessday.org.
Apr 7 “World Health Day”: See www.who.int/world-health-day/en
Apr 10-16 “National Volunteer Week”: A time to recognize and celebrate the incredible efforts of our volunteers. See http://volunteer.ca/content/national-volunteer-week.
Apr 10 “National Siblings Day”: A commemorative day to honour all brothers and sisters who are living and memorialize those who have died. Annually Apr 10. Call Claudia A. Evart 212-779-2227, email: siblingsday@earhlink.net, web www.siblingsday.org.
Apr 10-16 “National Wildlife Week”: The year 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Migratory Birds Convention between Canada and the United States, which was the first international treaty to conserve wildlife. With a focus on the skies, and all the wild winged creatures that inhabit that domain – from birds and bees to bats and butterflies – the 2016 theme for NWW is Giving Wings to Wildlife Conservation. See www.cwf-fcf-org.
Apr 14 “International Moment of Laughter Day”: Laughter is a potent and powerful way to deal with the difficulties of modern living. Experience the power of laughter. For info: Izzy Gesell 413-586-2634, email : izzy@izzyg.com, web www.izzyg.com.
Apr 15 “International Microvolunteering Day” see www.helpfromhome.org
Apr 20-22 “Global Youth Service Days”: See www.gysd.org.
Apr 22 “Earth Day”: A day to pay attention to accelerating the transition to renewable energy worldwide. Call Earth Day Network 202-518-0044, see www.earthday.ca/pub/index.php.
Apr 24-30 “Administrative Professionals Week”: Acknowledgment of the contributions of all administrative professionals, and their vital roles in business, industry, education and government. Annually the last full week of April. Administrative Professionals Day is the Wednesday (Apr 27). For info: call the Int’l Ass’n of Administrative Professionals 816-891-6600 ext 2239 or email: eallan@iaap-hq.org.
Apr 28 “Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day”: A national public education campaign sponsored by the Ms Foundation for Women in which children age 8-12 go to work with adult hosts – parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends. Call 800-676-7780, email tods@ms.foundation.org, web www.daughtersandsonstowork.org.
Apr 28 “National Day of Mourning”: Day of mourning for workers killed or injured on the job in Canada.