History of the Wellness Calendar.

The wellness calendar has a history that spans over 20 years. When my son Jake was about two years old (back in 1990), he discovered the joys of celebrations and holidays. Like most children, he associated these events with gifts, food, family, music, and fun.

We had just recently learned Jake has cerebral palsy. So much of his young life had numerous challenges; it was a delight to see him so excited about these events.

Every day he would ask me, “What are we celebrating today?” Initially, I would make up events, such as a new tooth, the sun is out, etc... Eventually, I would research reference books and, later, the Internet to see if there were special functions occurring on a specific day.

To my surprise, I found numerous events each day of the year, but there were too many, and it was a bit overwhelming. I started to note those days that dealt only with Health, Nutrition, Food, Safety, Disability Rights, and Environmental Issues.

I realized many of these events went unnoticed or unreported by Journalists, Educators, and Health Professionals. In 2002, I started to send out about 50 calendars to local and national media representatives in the hope the topics would encourage awareness and inspire ideas for stories and/or projects. Each year the number of calendars we sent out would increase, as did the thank-you notes from local, national, and worldwide correspondents.

Then in 2006, Jake and his friends graduated high school. They were unable to find employment due to their disabilities (Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, MD). I asked them if they would be interested in working with me on the Wellness Calendar. They said, “Yes.”

I’ve never charged for the calendars, but I thought this would be a wonderful way to raise money to help them with their ADL, self-esteem, independence, etc... Apparently, I lack the marketing and sales experience because we didn’t sell any calendars.

I didn’t have the heart to tell my staff. So through the years, I’ve paid them with my disability check. (In 2002, I started the wellness project after learning I was ill. I had a double mastectomy, and eventually, it became difficult to work outside of the home; Jake’s father had passed away, and I needed to be around to take care of Jake.)

The calendar was created to make sure every Journalist and Educator knew when certain events occurred, such as National Nutrition Month, World Diabetes Day, Earth Day, RD Day, and many others. The goal was to provide a useful tool to impress their editors with some interesting time-sensitive stories.

Later on, the calendar served to provide employment to individuals who were unable to find jobs due to their special abilities.

Remember to Make Everyday Special, Make Everyday Count.

with warm regards,
Dr. Sandra Frank and Jake Frank