Reclaim Valentine's Day: Celebrate Generosity Day 2012

Barely three days before Valentine's Day last year, Sasha Dichter, Chief Innovation Officer for Acumen Fund, decided to convert his month-long "Generosity Experiment" into a global Generosity Day. The idea was simple: to reclaim Valentine's Day from the clutches of commercialization and turn it into a day of "sharing love with everyone."

"During my Generosity Experiment, I said 'yes' to every request for help for a month. I'd found the experience transformative and had always dreamed of getting others involved," says Dichter. That's when his friend Katya Andresen, of Network for Good, came up with the idea of turning Valentine's Day into Generosity Day. "We wanted to reconnect (the day) to the core ideas of love and human connection," he says.

Despite the short notice, the response was startlingly positive. "We reached a few million people last year through blogs, Facebook and Twitter," says Dichter. On his blog he wrote, "Our hunch was spot on: People are hungering for something more in their lives -- more connection and more meaning."

Some celebrated the day by tipping outrageously. Others volunteered at local NGOs. Still others wrote little notes of appreciation for those around them. Check out our slideshow of our favorite Facebook messages from Generosity Day 2011.

This year, The Huffington Post is starting a social media campaign to spread the word about Generosity Day. Repost this story on your Facebook wall, and tell us on HuffPost Good News' wall how you plan to celebrate. Tweet us @hpgoodnews with the hashtag #GenerosityDay with your ideas for the big day. Write a blog post! Text all your friends! Or just mention it to everyone you meet today. Happy G Day!

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Comments

[stuckinbutler]

12:38 PM on 02/15/2012

The hype before Valentine's day and the ads on TV are all meant to make people feel obligated
to buy a gift for that special someone. Many people do not have extra cash to spend, but they still feel obligated and feel they will be looked upon badly if they don't come up with a gift...So they get out the credit card and get deeper in debt.....Is this the way to show someone love?

[Barbara PalaithNewson]

07:21 AM on 02/15/2012

Is this just a backlash from' folks who don't have "so called" Valentines? It doesn't have to be a lover..a boy friend..a girl friend..a husband.. It can be a niece or nephew..any special person. We don't have to sanitize the holiday..and I think it's one of the days of remembering that allows anyone even the little boy who sits in the next row at school..to pick out the best card and give it to his special girl ..it was exciting as a child in school to write up valentines and get one from that little boy..every year. Think back...People should think back to beginnings and see possibilities..not limitations..Your world is as limited as you make it.. There's more to Valentines Day then a dozen roses..

[caseyshebascott]

11:08 AM on 02/14/2012

"Generosity day" sounds good but, can we decree generosity. Either you are generous are you aren't. I do not need someone to tell me when, how, and where to be generous. Valentines day is about love. That is not the same thing. I can be generous with people whom I do not love, such as a stranger, and vice-versa. Not only am I unsure what the point is, I would be unwilling to let someone else define generousity, and imply that, if I do not follow script, that I am being selfish. To me this is a private manner. I am generous, but do not need to "annouce" it via a holiday.

[messy]

10:23 AM on 02/14/2012

This isn't about "reclaiming" it's about stealing someone else's holiday.

[Time to play]

10:21 AM on 02/14/2012

Many years ago, I slid on black ice into a snow bank and cattle gate. Before I could reach anyone by phone, a man in a tow truck stopped, pulled me out, checked to be sure the car was safe to drive and drove away before I was able to thank him. Thank you to the man who helped.

[wepa]

09:41 AM on 02/14/2012

If people want to buy on Valentines Day, let them buy. No one needs to rescue anything here. Is the writer of this article or the person extolled in the article contributing to the religious take-down of Valentine's Day. Hey, Huffington, Is this the reason the article is written in the Religion section?

[1234j]

07:21 AM on 02/14/2012

I have been volunteering at my local food shelf for the past year now. I wanted to do something to help people who have lost their homes and jobs. What I found out is that even as bad as the economy is people really do care about one another. I see people who never thought they would be in this position come to the food shelf grateful for the help. I could end up in the same boat and I would be grateful as well having the help I would need until I could get on my feet again.

[doll hd]

05:38 AM on 02/14/2012

you have to see this

[KIVPossum]

02:34 AM on 02/14/2012

Like the idea. Will make a donation to the local food panty today

[NWBrunette]

01:33 AM on 02/14/2012

Give love! Heaven knows we need to. I proclaim every day as generosity day!

[loki]

12:37 AM on 02/14/2012

I do like Generosity day, but maybe we should do it after Christmas as it does sound a lot like Boxing Day type of tradition.

[loki]

12:36 AM on 02/14/2012

I thought Valentines day was just another Church Holiday, for the St. Valentine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine

Do you really want to go back to another religious holiday ?? No one has been able to do it for Christmas, Easter, or even Halloween, which is also a religious holiday..look it up.

[Canuckview]

12:34 AM on 02/14/2012

commercial industry invented whats known as Valentines day. So you can't "take it back", it was never yours.

[ninjacb]

01:28 PM on 02/14/2012

nay. there was a priest named valentine - i believe in the 15th century. and they decided to combine all the pagan holidays into one and call it valentine's day. the reason it revolves so much around romance and such is because the pagan holidays revolved primarily around fertility.

[DessieRandom]

09:40 PM on 02/13/2012

I rather like the idea of this.

[Maryam Zar]

04:54 PM on 02/13/2012

Also, click onto http://www.globalgiving.org, search by whatever criteria interests or engages you, and donate to enable that project. Options range from $10 or $20 all the way to the hundreds or thousands if you are so inclined. All projects are vetted and verified before they are posted, and your dollars will go to help real people who desperately need your generosity, more than you can imagine.