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   Globalfamily Day is an international day of peace and sharing celebrated every

   January 1 by the citizens of the world. It is a day where individuals and

   families share food with  friends (especially the needy), make personal

   pledges of nonviolence, and spread a  message of peace and sharing by

   ringing a bells or beating a drum in hopes of making  society and the world a

   safer place to live.

   Co-founded by author Linda Grover (link) and Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

   (link) (chief sponsor of  the Martin Luther King holiday) (link), Globalfamily Day

   has twice received the unanimous support of the U.S. Congress (S. Con. Res.

   138, S. Res. 582, H. Con. Res. 317), the UN  General Assembly (Resolutions

   54/29 and 56/2), thirty-plus sitting heads of state and  ambassadors

   representing more than 2/3 of the worlds population.

   Our mission is to unite, inform, motivate, and connect people, institutions,

   and governments of the world through the celebration of this day of peace

   and sharing every January 1 and related year round programs.

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Letter to the President Scholarship Contest

   I want to thank everyone for participating in our Letter to President Obama

   scholarship contest. We received dozens of entries from around the world.

   All of the letters were fantastic. I wish we could publish all of them.

   The winning entry was submitted by MaryEllen O'Brien of Mesa, AZ. Her letter

   was published in the December 30th edition of the Star Bulletin newspaper in 

   Honolulu, HI and is posted below. We also posted portions of several of the 

   top letters on our website. Click here to view these excerpts.

   We hope all of the participants stay involved with Globalfamily Day by starting

   a chapter in your communities or countries. To learn how set up a Globalfamily

   Day program, please send us an email, detailing your interest and experience  

   to info@gfday.org. Thanks again for supporting one day of peace and sharing.

   Yours for a safer world, and for 'reconciliation of civilizations,'

   Linda Grover,
   Globalfamily Day Founder

   Excerpts from other letters to President Obama (click here)

    Dear President Obama:

    As the countdown to a new year and a new decade carries us forth to January 1^st, 2010, hope rises 

    around the world that this New Years Day will ring in more than revelry and resolutions that soon  

    fade. There is a burgeoning hope that the holiday itself will become a potent symbol of peace,  

    compassion, and world-wide sharing -- indeed, a symbol of the will of the people of the world -- the

    will for peace.

    In honor of a new decade in a century in its youth, we ask that you issue a proclamation annually

    which calls upon the people of the United States to observe Global Family Day, a day of peace  

    and sharing among all the peoples of the world, across every border and culture, promoting

    understanding, non-violent conflict resolution, the eradication of hunger and poverty, and respect

    for all as bound together as one in the human family, as outlined in detail in S. Res. 357 and H. Con.

    Res. 221.

    Global Family Day calls for the ringing of a bell or the beating of a drum to sound the call that we

    are one in our desire for peace and sustenance around the world. We ask that you ring in this New

    Year with a nod to our own Liberty Bell, resounding again with the liberty that is only possible

    where there is peace and responsible sharing of resources.

    We await a presidential proclamation -- where the drums that beat on New Year's Day are the

    rhythmic sound of peace.

    Sincerely,

    MaryEllen O'Brien, Mesa, AZ