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January 20, 2012

Jan. 20th: International Day of Acceptance


I’d like to wish everyone a Happy International Day of Acceptance.  What is International Day of Acceptance?  An activist movement created out of love by the Hopkins family.
 

Anne Hopkins (Annie) was a hard-working activist from the Chicago area.  She had one mission in life which was to eliminate stereotypes regarding people with physical/mental challenges and defend the underdog.  She started a company called “3ELove” in 2007 to promote embracing, education, and empowerment of the physically/mentally challenged community.  This is the idea behind the name of the company.


Sadly, Annie passed away on January 20, 2009.  International Day of Acceptance was created in her memory.  Stevie, Annie’s brother, now runs the company which also sells clothes, buttons, and stickers with a wheelchair hear symbol.  The logo was created by Annie and Stevie to spark conversation about the physically/mentally challenged community.  Items at the website store are reduced around this time to show support for the day.

An acquaintance said this about Annie: “Annie Hopkins was calculatedly reckless in how she chose to live, always pushing the boundaries of her disabilities that should have limited what she could do. While this at times worried her family and friends, she never hesitated to test her limits, especially when it came to giving to others. Annie was everything a person hopes to be as a family, friend and community member. She was generous, courageous, and empathetic and she lived how people all wish to live. Annie embodied the very best spirit that humankind has to offer one another, and the world. Annie Hopkins was beautiful and those who had the pleasure of knowing her experienced a once in a lifetime honor."



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