Remember Me Thursday

Giving honor to animals who are left behind in shelters is what Remember Me Thursday is all about. This can be done in a variety of ways that can help further the awareness and possibly provide homes for these potential pets. Consider these ideas for celebrating Remember Me Thursday:

Adopt an Animal from a Shelter

Bringing a new animal into the family to love and care for is the perfect way to celebrate Remember Me Thursday! One more pet in your home means one less animal that feels forgotten and alone. Those who are considering having a new pet in their lives can learn more about pet adoption through the ASPCA.

Volunteer at an Animal Shelter

Those who aren’t ready to take an animal into their home, or who already have some, can still help out by volunteering to help at a local animal shelter. Whether feeding and caring for cats, taking dogs for walks and providing exercise, cleaning out cages or promoting awareness, shelters almost always have need for additional animal loving volunteers!

Call or stop in to a local animal shelter to see what help they might need–or go one step further and make a donation while there.

Hold a Remember Me Thursday Event

Gather friends together who have adopted animals from shelters and hold a community event! Get creative with simple ideas like a neighborhood dog walk or a full-on festival that invites representatives from local animal shelters to get involved. The Remember Me Thursday website offers clever ideas and even a planning guide to help individuals, groups and organizations join in on this important movement.

Engage and inspire others on your own or with an officially organized event in the community. Creating hype and attention about the need is what this day is all about, so inviting friends, neighbors, families and coworkers to get involved is the perfect way to pay homage for Remember Me Thursday.

Share The News About Remember Me Thursday

Many people like to celebrate this day by using social media websites, such as Facebook and Instagram, to remind people of the day. Many local pet adoption centers will offer their hashtags or links to help people find them. The more the word gets out, the better the chance a lonely animal has of finding a new home!

Since this day was founded on the idea of using social media as a platform to help, this is a great day to use social media to share stories of the animals you have adopted and how they have succeeded in changing your life.

Join Jennie Garth, Andie MacDowell, Wil Wheaton, George Lopez, Jack Hanna, Kristin Chenoweth and Katherine Heigl in sharing the dream of having homes for every animal!

Light a Candle for Remembrance

One serene and peaceful way to honor Remember Me Thursday is to light a candle to show respect and mourn the animals that were never able to make it out of the shelter. All around the world, a candle-lighting ceremony will commence on this day. People can join in at home, gather a group of friends, or add this candle lighting in as part of their Remember Me Thursday public event.

History of Remember Me Thursday

Remember Me Thursday is an international social media awareness day that brings attention to the millions of adoptable pets waiting in shelters, as it tries to provide honor to those who haven’t yet made it out.

Since it began in the year 2012, Remember Me Thursday has made more than 1 billion impressions on social media. This popularity is thanks in part to the support of A-list celebrities, including Diane Keaton, Ian Somerhalder, Wynonna Judd and more.

On the fourth Thursday of September, these famous folks invite people from around the world to shine a light on pet adoption using #RememberMeThursday. This social media movement began through the Helen Woodward Animal Center, a non-profit organization located in San Diego County that has been helping animals to find their future homes for over 40 years.

Since the organization began the movement almost a decade ago, the awareness for the need for animal adoption has steadily increased in popularity. In fact, by 2017, over 330 million people got involved to spread the awareness for animal adoptions, giving a great boost toward this becoming a global event.

Because of this social media movement, people in various countries all over the world have helped to increase the popularity of animal adoption and bring animals in need to new families.