Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day this Friday, 3/20/2009

This Friday, March 20, will be the second Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day, a tribute to Fred Rogers and a way to promote neighborliness throughout America.

To participate, wear a sweater on March 20. Doesn’t have to be a zippered cardigan — just has to be “special to you.”

You can also send a photo of yourself and your friends to Family Communications, Inc., the nonprofit Mr. Rogers founded, and they’ll post it on their website: www.fci.org/neighbor

You’ll find full details and photos from last year’s event there too.

And there’s more. This is from the press release:

As part of WYBMND, a number of Pittsburgh organizations have signed up to participate in the event by hosting activities to celebrate what it means to be a neighbor. On March 20, the Pittsburgh Zoo and the PPG Aquarium, The National Aviary, the Mattress Factory, the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and Photo Antiquities will offer free admission. Neighbors are also invited to visit Mr. McFeely and members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum and join community sweater drives sponsored by The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (at its Liberty Avenue and Hill District locations) and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (in the first floor lobby at 925 Liberty Ave.).

In addition, the movie My Tale of Two Cities, which encourages everyone to be a caring neighbor, will have several benefit screenings the week of March 15. The film is a comeback story about the real-life “Mister Rogers Neighborhood”.  Featuring Franco Harris and other famous Pittsburghers, screenwriter Carl Kurlander’s story documents the “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” spirit that can be found across the country. The film will screen in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., and then, on March 20 in Pittsburgh at The Waterworks Cinema.

“What’s been so encouraging,” [Margy Whitmer of Family Communications, Inc.] says, “is the continued enthusiastic response from people all over the country. We’ve marked this date to give  organizations and institutions the opportunity to create an event that encourages the people in their communities to be caring neighbors.  We’re also hoping that individuals will connect one-on-one with their neighbors in caring ways and that it will become an annual national day of community service.”

For more information about “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Day (WYBMND) visit www.fci.org/neighbor.