Change by Doing Explore the world of volunteering and service

What are you doing Sunday? July 18 is Nelson Mandela Day, and was declared so in 2009 by the United Nations. Madiba (Mandela’s Xhosa clan name and a term of endearment) celebrated his 90th birthday in 2008, and the worldwide recognition and embrace of his message of peace and service was focused on London. Last year, New York hosted the main Mandela Day events, and this year, it is in World Cup champion nation, Spain—Madrid to be exact.

No matter where you are, July 18 is a chance for the world to engage and jump in to service and demonstrating a commitment to everyone else with whom we share the planet. Start a new volunteer commitment this weekend, make a call to find out how to donate your time or money or used items, reach out to the people around you.

The Mandela Day website describes the celebration like this (emphasis mine):

• Mandela Day is an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life and a global call to action for people to recognize their individual ability to make an imprint and change the world around them.

• Mandela Day has been created to inspire people from every corner of the world to embrace the values that have embodied Nelson Mandela’s life – democracy; equality; reconciliation; diversity; responsibility; respect and freedom – for these are the values of Nelson Mandela and they are his legacy to the world.

• Mandela Day aims to showcase the work of the Nelson Mandela charitable organisations (Nelson Mandela Foundation; Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund; Mandela Rhodes Foundation) and raise monies to support their continuing work.

• By connecting people with ways to act on Nelson Mandela’s values, we aim to empower every individual to make an imprint on the world.

• The Mandela Day campaign message is simple: Nelson Mandela has given 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. All we are asking is that everyone gives 67 minutes of their time, whether it’s supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community.

• Mandela Day is a global social movement – an umbrella idea – that does not discriminate, it’s open and lets in and embraces every organization that does good, whilst enabling people to serve their community and improve their lives.

• Mandela Day is not a holiday – it is a day for all of us to opt in and show that we can all make an impact.