How to celebrate women this year (and every year)

As women, even with everything going on around us, we still have something to celebrate—ourselves! We’re empowered to shape the world around us. We’re all about loving our families, friends and folks through good times, and hard ones, too. We’re about our achievements, raising awareness about our lives, and remembering to love on ourselves.  We are the connectors, the dream-builders, the blazers of our own trails, the solid ground under one another’s feet and the sheroes of our own lives.

So come along with us and see how to celebrate women throughout the year. 

Inspired? Create and share by tagging @HallmarkStores.

Looking for how to celebrate women during a specific month? Click the links below to jump straight to that time of year. You may notice there’s no official days dedicated to celebrating women in July, but don’t worry…we have something for you to celebrate anyway.

JANUARY  

All Month: National Sunday Suppers Month

Why We Celebrate 

We hold our folks together. Started by a group of women friends to re-strengthen Sunday meals as a tradition, Sunday Suppers are a way for us to celebrate how we share our love through food. They are a way to slow down the busy-ness that modern life has become and to unplug from the outside world so we can reconnect our families. 

It’s about bringing our families together once a week with a thoughtfully prepared (not complicated!) meal. It’s a way to sustain culture and customs and build new memories with the people we care for.

Ways to Celebrate National Sunday Suppers Month 

  • Invite your family to plan a meal that gives everyone something delicious to eat and something special to prepare. 
  • You can also invite extended family and friends to prepare a meal to join you virtually from wherever they are. Each person you invite could each plan to share a story, tell a joke, give special attention to a particular person, sing a song or look at pictures together. Watch the laughter, joy, happiness and love flow!

 

January 3: Women Rock Day

Why We Celebrate 

We literally rock! January 3 is the day to hold our lighters up to all the bold and badass musical women who helped create rock music: Pioneer blues women like Big Mama Thornton who made songs Elvis later sang, Janis Joplin and Tina Turner who broke into male-dominated scenes with the force of their big voices, Aretha Franklin who put some extra soul in it, and Sheila E. who brought the rhythm to the rock.

Ways to Celebrate Women Rock Day 

  • Make a playlist of your favorite women artists, current and back-in-the-day, to share with your girlfriends and daughters.  
  • Send each one of your favorite people a special song dedication. 
  • Have a karaoke sing-along or dance party for your girls, virtually or in person. 
  • Play musical chairs to the latest bops. 
  • Make a Soul Train line with the kids. 
  • Whatever you do, have fun while honoring the women who turned the beat around!

 

January 25: Room of One’s Own Day

Why We Celebrate 

We gotta give ourselves some love, too! Inspired by Virginia Wolff’s iconic novel, January 25 is a day that’s all about holding and having our own spaces as women. It’s about having a literal room or figurative place to breathe, dream, create, work out our emotional stuff, and rest and restore. It’s about what we can find and find out about ourselves in the solitude. It’s about the privilege of sitting in the presence of our own spirits.

Ways to Celebrate Room of One’s Own Day 

Why not make it a day for reflection, stillness, mindfulness, doing what you want and giving yourself what you need? You could give yourself the self-care day you’ve wanted in the quiet of your own room or invite a friend or two to join you in a spa day that you arrange somewhere else or in a space you create in your house. You could find a yoga class, do a meditation or sit in prayer. The point is to celebrate by giving your soul what it’s asking for.

FEBRUARY  

All Month: Black History Month

Why We Celebrate 

It’s about our freedom! We might not think of Black History month as important to the history and progress of all women, but good news! It is. Not only because of how Black people’s fight for equality won freedom for all Americans (every constitutional amendment made and every civil and voting rights acts won by Black people protect all Americans) but every women’s rights movement for equality in the 19th and 20th century was started by women who had already been active in the fight for Black freedom.

Using the Black struggle as a model, these women went on to win the right to vote, run for public office, protect their families and determine their own lives.

Ways to Celebrate Black History Month 

  • You could host a discussion group on how Black culture shaped our common American food, music, literature and art.
  • Think about visiting a Black history exhibit, museum or heritage site.
  • Make a Black music playlist to share with family and friends: spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz, rock ’n’ roll, rhythm and blues, and hip-hop offer plenty of options.
  • Read Black writers and poets for yourself and your kids to learn more about the culture and the history that belongs to us all.
  • Visit and support a Black-owned business or restaurant and attend Black History Month events to connect with the community.

First Week of February: National Women’s Heart Week

Why We Celebrate

As women who love big, we need to keep our hearts strong. National Women’s Heart Week raises critical awareness about our heart health. Sadly, heart disease is the number one cause of death for American women over the age of 34.

But fortunately for us, this week is about teaching the importance of healthy hearts. It promotes disease prevention, shares knowledge about symptoms to watch for, advocates for early intervention and saves the lives of women we love, including ourselves.

Ways to Celebrate National Women’s Heart Week

  • Join a walk or run with friends to benefit women’s heart healthcare and research.
  • Host a women’s day off with stress-relieving activities and healthy snacks/drinks.
  • Find out what organizations in your community are working on better outcomes for women’s health. Learn how you can support important research, healthcare, fundraising, etc.
  • Talk with your healthcare provider about your risks for cardiovascular disease and how to reduce them.
  • Send a card to a woman you love letting her know how much you love her big heart and need her to stay around.

 

February 2: National Girls & Women in Sports Day

Why We Celebrate

We make moves! National Girls & Women in Sports Day began in 1987 to recognize the importance and potential of women’s sports in helping women and girls break barriers and set new horizons. Premiere athletic organizations and elite women athletes unite on this day to bring national attention to the promise of girls and women in sports that build strength, sharpen athletic and mental skills, and prepare girls and women to take on life, educational and career challenges well beyond sports.

Half a century ago, Title IX barred the exclusion of girls and women from sports and created the opening for more of our participation in sports in schools and colleges. Let’s celebrate all the progress that’s been made since then! But there’s still plenty of work to do to make sure we have access to full sports participation, leadership and coaching opportunities, equal pay, and media coverage.

Ways to Celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day

  • Attend a girls’ or women’s sporting event with your family or friends. Bonus points for making signs to cheer on your team.
  • Have a movie night and watch a documentary about an accomplished woman athlete or team. Create a trivia game with facts about the athlete(s) to keep kids engaged.
  • Gather your group or organization to create or contribute to a scholarship for a local student athlete.
  • Work with your local schools to organize a mentoring program between high school athletes and younger aspiring athletes.
  • Send a card or note of encouragement and admiration to young athletes on your hometown teams. Get other people to join in as a note-sending “cheer squad!”

 

February 11: International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Why We Celebrate

We make change and save the world! In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared February 11 as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The day recognizes the hard work and scientific contributions of women and girls all around the world while raising awareness that our exclusion from traditionally male-dominated disciplines is still a problem. It underscores how women’s and girls’ access to and success in scientific study and inquiry not only achieves the goals of advancing gender equality and our empowerment as women but benefits the entire world. We are change agents in technology, exploring the universe, curing disease, solving energy and global sustainability issues, saving the earth and us.

Ways to Celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science

  • Host a Science Experiment Day or Fun Science Fair for the girls in your neighborhood. You could invite your local science teacher to lead or find cool (but safe) experiments on reputable teaching and educational sites.
  • Follow women and girl scientists on social media to see what they’re discovering, uncovering, thinking about and creating.
  • Donate to one of the many agencies supporting women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
  • Send a note or card to a young scientist in your life letting them know that you see them and that you know they’ll make good change in the world.

MARCH  

All Month: Women’s History Month

Why We Celebrate 

We’ve got a month of our own! During Women’s History Month, we celebrate all the luminaries, trailblazers, prophets and visionaries who first imagined and then carved our freedom and equality from the solid rock of oppression. 

This month is also about understanding the diverse histories of ordinary women like us—Indigenous women, Black women, Latinx women, Asian women, white and non-white immigrant women, queer women, non-binary women, disabled women, women across the experiential spectrum—who stood up, whether together or alone, to fight for and win our equal rights. They left us a legacy of freedom and a model for protecting our own empowerment. This month we can celebrate those women and ourselves as sheroes of our own lives. Because our history is not just the past…it’s ours to make.

Ways to Celebrate Women’s History Month

  • Send a card or note letting them know how they’ve inspired and empowered you to be who you are. 
  • Consider supporting a women’s nonprofit or making a microloan to women trying to start small businesses around the world. 
  • Donate Women’s History books for kids and teens on women’s art, scientific contributions, roles in democracy, music and other themes to your school libraries. 
  • Support a Girls and Women’s Fund that addresses issues from homelessness to girls losing the right to education in some cultures. 
  • Mentor a girl close to home. 
  • Celebrate yourself. Send you a love note!

 

March 8: International Women’s Day

Why We Celebrate

Women all around the globe deserve to be celebrated. That’s what International Women’s Day is for on March 8. It’s a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in winning and protecting women’s human rights around the world, in developed and developing countries, too. 

The day highlights how every woman—regardless of where she’s born or lives—deserves the right to be educated, the right to work, the right to be free from discrimination and the right to her political voice.

Ways to Celebrate International Women’s Day

  • Plan a party where everyone brings a small donation to offer another woman somewhere else in the world. 
  • Maybe you can help a small farmer buy a heifer, donate to a clean water initiative, support funds and legislation that keep girls in school around the globe or give to organizations that support new moms and their babies with health information and supplies. 
  • And you can definitely use this day as another reason to lift up a woman who’s close to you with a note, card, treat or gift.

March 15: Women’s Equal Pay Day 

Why We Observe 

Okay, this day is clearly less for celebrating and more for raising awareness and understanding. Falling on March 15 in 2023, Women’s Equal Pay Day puts the spotlight on one of our constant and current struggles as women—being paid equally and fairly compared to men for the work we do. Despite how far we’ve come, a stubborn wage disparity and pay gap continues to exist. This day is about what we can do to overcome it.

Ways to Observe Women’s Equal Pay Day

  • You could find and share a reliable and relatable history of the long struggle behind equal pay for equal work for men and women and start a discussion on what the disparities mean for us and our families. 
  • Connect with a group or initiative focused on raising awareness about the impact of pay, wage and wealth disparity. 
  • Talk to the women in your life about their experiences and decide how to get active to make change. 
  • Have a conversation about how protecting our sisters with knowledge is protecting ourselves.

 

March 31: International Transgender Day of Visibility

Why We Celebrate 

In 2009, Rachel Crandall-Crocker, a trans woman, wanted to empower her community by creating a day for joyful, prideful, life-affirming reasons to demonstrate that trans people belong and that their lives matter. Because of the daily discrimination trans people face and the constant violence and threats to their lives, she wanted to give the community a chance to come together, to be visible, to feel hopeful and happy, and to feel support, acceptance and inclusion. 

Trans people are our parents, siblings, children and others. This is a day to recognize the beauty, challenges, complexities and humanity of the trans community—the perfect time to put some shine on them and show them some love.

Ways to Celebrate International Transgender Day of Visibility 

  • Attend Trans Day of Visibility events in person or virtually. 
  • Practice empathy: Listen to the stories of trans women to try to understand more about their experiences and how they experience the world. 
  • Learn about trans history and culture. Make sure that any spaces that we’re in as women are safe and inclusive of trans women. 
  • Start empathetic conversations about trans people with others from outside the community. 
  • Celebrate and protect trans lives.

APRIL  

April 7: Girl Me Too Day 

Why We Celebrate

This day celebrates building healthy relationships among all women. It’s for taking some time out to make our bonds as women stronger by learning to view life through each other’s eyes. It’s about growing compassion and empathy for one another, for healing past hurts and empowering a strong future for both the women we love and women as a whole.

Ways to Celebrate Girl Me Too Day

  • Ask yourself, who do you wish you had a better relationship with? Reach out to that woman in your life and start a conversation. 
  • Send an “I’d love to talk” text, note or card. 
  • Find a group of young girls to mentor about togetherness. Visit a church, community organization or professional event of a different community to learn more about women who have different life experiences. 
  • Listen to stories different than yours to grow your heart and your world.

 

April 11–17: Black Maternal Health Week  

Why We Observe 

Many of us are or will become mothers. Pregnancy and childbirth should be among the most welcome, happiest and safest events of our lives. Black Maternal Health Week raises awareness of how complications related to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum periods lead to hundreds of deaths per year, hitting Black women particularly hard. 

Black women are at least three times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women. Understanding and addressing the conditions that create this tragic disparity for Black women is not just a matter of fairness but, ultimately, helps us understand how to keep all women safe in pregnancy.

Ways to Observe Black Maternal Health Week 

  • Support organizations that work to ensure equal access to health care, especially maternal health care. 
  • Give time, resources or money to groups that help provide adequate nutrition and housing for moms and families. 
  • Consider ways to support maintaining toxin-free environments in your own and surrounding neighborhoods.

 

April 24–30: National Infertility Awareness Week 

Why We Observe 

Infertility can be a heartbreaking struggle. Between April 24 and 30, National Infertility Awareness Week works to destigmatize infertility and shed light on the barriers women face to get the care they need to start their families. 

One in eight people who want to start a family need medical help and the costs are prohibitive. A single course of IVF can cost upwards of $20,000 out of pocket, for instance. The goal of Resolve: The National Infertility Association—the organization that founded National Infertility Awareness Week—is to make fertility treatment accessible for all people so that all families can welcome the children they long for.

Ways to Observe National Infertility Awareness Week

  • Comfort the women in your life who struggle with infertility by being there, listening and offering non-judgmental support and unconditional love. Validate their feelings and resist minimizing their experience. 
  • Help raise awareness around infertility, the cost of care and unequal access on social media. 
  • Start good conversations to combat stigma.

MAY  

May 14: Mother’s Day

Why We Celebrate 

We love Mother’s Day because it’s when those of us who are mothers get celebrated by our families, get to celebrate one another and, of course, celebrate ourselves. It’s a day of gratitude for everything moms do and the thoughtful ways our families let us know how thankful they are, from macaroni necklaces to special Mother’s Day jewelry with actual stones. Over time, Mother’s Day has come to acknowledge chosen mother figures, people who are the “other mothers” in our lives and people who have lost their mothers.

Ways to Celebrate Mother’s Day

If you’d like the day for self-care, enjoy some guilt-free you time, some downtime, some pure joy time, then you do you! But if you’d like nothing better than to be surrounded by every family member and do something that brings you happiness, you could: 

  • Plant some flowers together. 
  • Teach your family a favorite recipe.  
  • Let them put on a concert for you. 
  • Put your feet up and let the family make you brunch from a kitchen they will clean. 
  • Snuggle up with your folks for a storytelling Mom-a-thon. 

You could also acknowledge others by:

  • Sending a card with a wish for comfort to someone who’s lost their mother. 
  • Writing a letter to a mother figure about a favorite memory or some little something they did to make a big difference to you.

Starting on Mother’s Day: National Women’s Health Week 

Why We Celebrate 

National Women’s Health Week starts each year on Mother’s Day to encourage us to make our own health a priority. As women, we spend so much time taking care of others that we can fall to the bottom of our own priority list. Two out of three women are caretakers to others, giving daily or routine support to children, other adults or people with ongoing illness or disability. This week reminds us to check in with our own health and our healthcare providers.

Ways to Celebrate National Women’s Health Week 

  • Remind the ladies you love how much you love them and need them to be around for a long time. No need to preach. Just check in to see if the women and girls in your circle are finding time to care for themselves and making those important physical and mental health appointments. 
  • One of the most important ways to take care of our health is connection with other people. You could invite your girls for a nice group walk together as a way of catching up and checking in. Have a potluck featuring healthy delicious foods as inspiration. Get together to unwind. Maybe it’s a group date with massage therapists or a backyard gathering to watch the stars.

JUNE  

June 4 – National “Old Maids” Day 

Why We Celebrate
Ok, the name is beyond problematic, but hear us out. The day commemorates women who are childfree, unmarried and living their best lives. That’s something to celebrate! And women have plenty of practice taking a thing that is meant to be an insult and turning it into something to celebrate. This day is the perfect example. 

In 1948, Marion Richards fought back against the stereotypes of child-free and unmarried women and recognized the unique contributions of so-called “old maids.” She held the first Old Maids gathering, in which unmarried and childless women were celebrated and appreciated for their contributions to churches, schools, hospitals, offices and society in general. 

And today, we’re celebrating women for who we are beyond our familial roles. We’re celebrating all the amazing dimensions of our lives—friendships, travel, career, faith and spirituality, personal growth, hobbies and more. 

Ways to Celebrate National “Old Maids” Day

  • If you are single and childfree, plan a day to do all your favorite things—order your favorite meal, spend time with one of your closest friends, check out that movie you’ve been wanting to see. Take a moment to thank yourself for building a life you love. 
  • If you know someone else who is single and childfree, let them know you see how much they do for others. Maybe they’re an auntie to your kids, maybe they volunteer in their community, maybe they are the social ringleader who gets everyone together. Send them a card or a gift to show them you notice and appreciate them.

 

June 23: International Women in Engineering Day

Why We Celebrate

We love to clap it up for women in male-dominated fields, doing amazing work often under the radar. Engineering is one of those fields. In 1876, Elizabeth Bragg became the first female recipient of an engineering degree when she got her bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University of Berkeley. Thousands of women followed in Bragg’s footsteps and became engineers throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, despite facing discrimination and disparate treatment. 

Women engineers have created and are still creating technological advancements that better society around the globe. Today engineers like Kimberly Bryant, who founded the nonprofit Black Girls Code, are ensuring that the next generation of female engineers is empowered to contribute their knowledge and skill to make a better world. We feel a celebration coming on.

Ways to Celebrate Women in Engineering Day

  • Watch a documentary or read a book about a woman engineer who has made an important contribution to society. If you can, share the story with someone else.
  • Host an engineering-themed party for the kids in your life. Set up stations to let them experiment with building, coding and other elements of engineering. Bonus points for featuring bios of women engineers the kids can look up to.
  • Visit a science or technology museum to learn more about how engineering works in the world around us.
  • If you live near a school or place of higher education, check their schedule for engineering talks and events that are open to the public.
  • Check with your local library to see what opportunities exist for learning about coding, 3D printing, audio recording and other forms of engineering.

AUGUST  

August 1: National Girlfriends Day

Why We Celebrate

Friendships between girls and women can be life-giving, powerful and even world-changing! We’re putting in a plug for celebrating year-round, but celebrating on National Girlfriends Day is a good place to start. 

Women friends throughout history have joined forces to make the world a better place for women. For example, The Edinburgh Seven were a group of girlfriends who fought to become the first women to go to medical school in the UK in the 1860s. Their determination led to laws passed in 1876 that allowed women to study medicine. The Edinburgh Seven paved the way for female doctors of the future. 

Think of all the ways you and your girlfriends have been there for each other through life’s ups and downs and the ways you’ve joined forces to better your community. That’s worth a big ol’ round of applause.

Ways to Celebrate National Girlfriends Day

  • What could be better than gathering your girlfriends for a day of relaxation, fun and appreciation? 
  • Want to go the extra mile? Get a group of girls together to volunteer at a local organization that benefits women and/or girls. 
  • If your gal pals live too far away, send them a token of your appreciation for the role they play in your life. Remind them of a memory you made together that still makes you smile or laugh. 
  • You could even donate in their name to a cause that supports women.

August 3: Black Women’s Equal Pay Day

Why We Observe

This is another one of those days that’s less of a celebration and more of a day for recognition. A gender pay gap exists between all women and their male counterparts, but that gap is especially wide for Black women. Black Women’s Equal Pay Day recognizes that it takes the average Black woman—working full-time, year-round—eight extra months to earn what the average white non-Hispanic man earns in one year, regardless of industry. 

Of course, the issue of pay discrimination is multifaceted. That’s why equal pay advocates address all kinds of workplace issues that affect women, like pregnancy and caregiver discrimination, pay secrecy and lack of access to paid leave. And those advocates could always use more folks getting involved in the cause.

Ways to Observe Black Women’s Equal Pay Day

  • Whether we get involved locally or on a larger scale, we can join forces with other people and groups fighting for Black women’s fair treatment and equal pay. 
  • We can also raise awareness around these ongoing issues that affect us and women we care about. Getting together with the women in our lives and sharing our experiences is always a good place to start. Having each other’s backs is definitely something to celebrate.

 

August 4: Single Working Women’s Day 

Why We Celebrate

We’re all about celebrating as hard as we work. Women have long been part of the labor force, continually fighting for equal access, treatment and pay as important workforce contributors. And we’ve got to give each other props. In 2006, Barbara Payne, a single working woman, founded Single Working Women’s Affiliate Network. She and her friends saw an opportunity to celebrate the unique contributions of single working women that often go unnoticed and uncelebrated by society. 

Ways to Celebrate Single Working Women’s Day

  • Send a note to a coworker or another single working woman in your life telling them something specific you appreciate about what they contribute to their workplace, their community or to your life. 
  • Treat them to their favorite café beverage for a workday break. 
  • Start a conversation with your single woman coworkers and find out what about your workplace makes their lives easier or harder. 
  • Brainstorm together how you can make sure they’re supported. 

 

August 26: National Women’s Equality Day

Why We Celebrate

The right to vote is obviously worth celebrating! August 26 commemorates the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting white women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment was made possible by a significant civil rights movement organized by women suffragists of all races. 

But it would take another 45 years for the voting rights of Black women and other women of color to be constitutionally protected by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. An important part of celebrating Women’s Equality Day is recognizing that disparities in voting rights still exist and the continual struggle for all women’s full equality continues.

Ways to Celebrate National Women’s Equality Day

  • Celebrate by showing up! Keep the women’s suffrage progress going by registering voters in your area, casting your vote and volunteering as a poll worker on election day. 
  • You can also contribute to organizations doing important work for women’s equality. 
  • Collaborate with groups that include LGBTQ+ women, and women of all races, ages and socioeconomic statuses. 
  • Give your time and invest what you can to causes that will ensure a brighter future for all women.

SEPTEMBER  

September 8: National Native Women’s Equal Pay Day

Why We Observe

Like the other Equal Pay Days, this is a day of recognition, not so much celebration. September 8 marks the day Native women in the U.S. make what white men had made at the end of the previous year. In other words, it takes Native women 21 months to earn what white men earn in one year. 

Counterintuitively, the pay gap widens even more for Native women with advanced degrees. This disparity in earnings negatively affects not only Native women, but their families and communities, as well as future generations. 

Ways to Observe National Native Women’s Equal Pay Day

  • Whether we get involved locally or on a larger scale, we can join forces with other people and groups fighting for Native women’s fair treatment and equal pay. Listening to Native women talk about their experiences and supporting indigenous-led efforts is an important way to ensure that solutions are appropriate and beneficial for the communities most affected by pay disparity.

 

September 17: National Women’s Friendship Day

Why We Celebrate

If you’re anything like us, we’re always happy for more reasons to celebrate our amazing women friends. National Women’s Friendship Day is just one more reason to recognize and appreciate our closest and best girls. The holiday doesn’t commemorate a specific historical event so your celebration can be as unique as your relationships.

Ways to Celebrate National Women’s Friendship Day

  • Host a brunch or happy hour with friends who make life sunnier.
  • Get a group of gals together to volunteer at an organization that benefits women.
  • Pick out just the right cards for your best pals.
  • Start a new tradition you can celebrate together every September.
  • Plan a girls’ getaway someplace new or at a group favorite location.

OCTOBER  

All Month: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Why We Observe

This month is about celebrating survivors, raising awareness and supporting ongoing advances that ensure healthier lives for women. Breast cancer is the second-most common form of cancer diagnosed in U.S. women.

Early detection and advancing research for treatments are driving down the mortality rates of those diagnosed with breast cancer, but there is still work to be done. Detection and treatment disparities exist for rural women, low-income women, Hispanic women, Black women, lesbian and bisexual women, and uninsured women. We can all do our part to raise awareness and support so that all women in our communities have the resources they need for their health.

Ways to Observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month

  • Sign up for a walk, run or other event to honor survivors and benefit breast cancer research and treatment. Better yet, get a group to sign up with you. 
  • Learn what organizations in your community provide screenings, treatment, education and support and see how you can get involved. They may need donated items, volunteers, funding or other help. 
  • Reach out to a breast cancer survivor in your life and remind them how much they mean to you with a special note or gift.

All Month: National Pregnancy, Infant and Child Loss Awareness Month

Why We Observe

Loss of a pregnancy, infant or child can be devastating and isolating, especially when others do not understand or know how to give support. This month is a time to raise awareness and offer support. 

Pregnancy can be an exciting time in a woman’s life, but it is not without risks. In the U.S., one out of every four pregnancies ends in miscarriage and one out of every 160 pregnancies ends in stillbirth. These numbers do not include infant death from preterm labor, diagnosis of life-limiting conditions, or SIDS. Showing up for friends and family members who have experienced such losses is very important. Listening and consistently checking in over the long haul can help parents feel less alone in their grief. 

Ways to Observe National Pregnancy, Infant and Child Loss Awareness Month

  • Participate in Wave of Light on October 15 by lighting a candle to honor the lives of babies gone too soon.
  • If you feel comfortable sharing your loss, share your own story.
  • If you know someone who has faced a loss, find ways to support them. Offer practical help like cooking meals or doing yardwork. Ask them what would help them most; each person is different.
  • Support organizations that provide maternal, fetal, infant and child healthcare to those who have barriers to access. 

October 11: International Day of the Girl Child

Why We Celebrate

It’s no secret that girls rock, and that should be enough reason to celebrate. But this day is about making sure girls can shine their brightest. On December 19, 2011, United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.

The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals all include giving girls access to education, technology, healthcare, safety, sustainable environments and economic opportunities. When girls succeed, communities thrive, and the entire world is better for it.

Ways to Celebrate International Day of the Girl Child

  • Share stories of trailblazing adolescent girls and do your part to make sure these opportunities exist for girls in your community.
  • Support local or large-scale organizations helping to close the gender gap for girls’ opportunities to learn, innovate and thrive in today’s tech-integrated world.
  • Get involved in local initiatives that prioritize girls’ health and well-being.
  • Gather a group of girls in your life to fundraise for a group of girls somewhere else.

 

October 11: Black Girl Day Off

Why We Observe

We’re supporting Black women in taking a mental health day for themselves. It’s been a lot between everything happening in the news and whatever you have going on in your personal life. You deserve to have peace, wellness, rest and restoration. Taking care of your mental health is taking care of your whole self, your family and your community, too.

Ways to Observe Black Girl Day Off

  • It can be hard to find a culturally competent provider who understands your experience, but new online mental health resources are available specifically for you.
  • Join a supportive group of Black women who make you feel understood and held up.
  • Get together with girlfriends over a nice meal or drinks, and enjoy the relaxation, nourishment and connection.

NOVEMBER  

November 19: Women’s Entrepreneurship Day

Why We Celebrate

Women leaders, makers, innovators and providers deserve to be celebrated, and girls all over the globe deserve the chance at their best life! That’s why this day was established—to empower girls and women through entrepreneurship. 

Supporting women-owned businesses is an important way to achieve gender equity, alleviate poverty, build stronger communities, and solve complex social issues faced around the world. Now that’s what we call girlbossing.

Ways to Celebrate Women’s Entrepreneurship Day

  • Learn about entrepreneurship programs in your area and how they are empowering women to succeed. 
  • Support local women-owned businesses and volunteer with woman-led organizations. Bonus points if you bring along the kids in your life. 
  • Do your homework about entrepreneurship programs in other countries and support community-led programs that better the lives of women business owners, their families and local areas.

 

November 25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Why We Observe

We are strong believers that women’s light should never be dimmed. This day recognizes that violence is one of the most appalling ways people try to dim women’s light. In the year 2000, the United Nations designated November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 

Stopping this violence involves believing survivors, tackling root causes of violence, changing harmful social norms and empowering women and girls. It’s no easy task, but it’s worth it.

Ways to Observe International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

  • Believe survivors of violence without question and ask them how we can support them. 
  • Have open, age-appropriate conversations with our kids and teens about bodily autonomy, consent and healthy relationships that can keep them safer. 
  • Learn what services for survivors exist in our communities and how they are being funded. Donate to local organizations that empower women, amplify their voices, support survivors, and promote acceptance of all gender identities and sexualities.

DECEMBER  

December 1: National Women Support Women Day

Why We Celebrate 

December 1 is a day for celebrating women supporting women. It’s a “leave no woman behind or alone” kind of vibe. Let’s celebrate the ways we can lift each other up as women—whether it’s throwing some shine on successful women in the arts, business, education and politics, or bringing some light into the life of the women you care about. This day is for making our connections with other women stronger which, in turn, makes us all stronger.

Ways to Celebrate National Women Support Women Day 

  • Reach out to a woman who may be struggling and feeling like she’s alone. Send a text, note or card letting her know that you’re here. 
  • Gather the women who support you for a “Thank You for Being in My Life” Celebration. 
  • Send a heartfelt letter to a mentor, spiritual adviser, relative or friend about a time when they really helped you get through something. 
  • Donate to a charitable organization that supports women.

 

December 1: Rosa Parks Day

Why We Celebrate 

Here’s another great reason to celebrate on December 1—it’s Rosa Parks Day. Most of us know the story of Mrs. Parks’ arrest after she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, kicking off a year-long bus boycott that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement for freedom and equality in the 1950s and 1960s. But Mrs. Parks did way more than that (like that wasn’t a pretty big deal). 

She was also a civil rights activist and fearless anti-rape advocate. She went on dangerous, undercover investigative assignments to collect stories of sexual assault during the movement and was instrumental in changing both attitudes and laws about rape, making us all safer.

Ways to Celebrate Rosa Parks Day

  • Donate children’s books about Mrs. Parks to your child’s classroom. 
  • Get friends together to read and discuss a biography or history of Mrs. Parks. 
  • Get inspired by her bravery and make a small difference in something you care about by donating time, resources, or money. 
  • Give your community some Rosa Parks energy by standing up for someone who needs it.

A few meaningful words can go a long way. Read our inspiring quotes for women crafted by Hallmark writers.