November is host to a slew of wonderful health awareness month observances as well as some very worthy causes. A few of these include national National Novel Writing Month; Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month; National Family Caregiver’s Month; Adaption Awareness Month; American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month and National Diabetes Awareness Month. Show your love; support your cause and be an agent of change!
In the Sparks Spotlight
Alzheimer’s Disease & Family Caregiver Awareness Month and National Novel Writing Month
Go Purple with a Purpose for Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness and Caregivers Month. Honor a Caregiver with a personal tribute message is central to this year’s observance. President Ronald Reagan designated November as National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month in 1983. Back then, fewer than 2 million Americans had Alzheimer’s; today, the number of people with the disease has soared to nearly 5.4 million. Get involved this month, and help raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease!
One of my favorite observances is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), held every November since 1999. This nonprofit sparks the creative writing gene in us all; empowering and encouraging vibrant creativity around the world. Now in its 18th year, this year’s theme – Your Novel, Your Universe — encourages creativity, education, and the power of the imagination through the largest writing event in the world. NaNoWriMo expects nearly 500,000 people—including K-12 students and educators via its Young Writers Program—to start a 50,000-word novel in the month of November.
In a world of 140 characters; where social media and texting is the optimum way to communicate, knowing how to truly write is on its way to a lost art form. Thanks to organizations like NaNoWriMo, there’s plenty of hope that creative expression through the art of writing will continue for generations to come!
NaNoWriMo became a 501(c) (3) organization in 2005. In 2015, 431,626 participants, including 80,137 students and educators in the Young Writers Program, started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists. – Abbe Sparks is Socially Sparked. @asparks01; abbe@sociallysparkednews.com. Tags: #activism #alzheimers #novelwritingmonth #natowrimo
Abbe Sparks is the author of Socially Sparked Blog, which reports on the people, brands, places and things that socially spark our lives in the worlds of entertainment, digital, tech & activism. A social media and digital content diva and activist, Abbe has been writing about entertainment, technology and activism for over 20 years. Her newest hat: enrepreneur. Newest venture: founder/editor of Socially Sparked News (launching soon). @asparks01, abbe@sociallysparkednews.com
