Awareness Events in June

June is an exciting month in the U.S. — the official start of summer. Warm weather, vacations, and for educators and students — summer break! With longer days and summer heat, people tend to get much more active in June — and they’re often seeking fun things to do outdoors, such as festivals, carnivals, and summer sports like hiking and swimming. All of these activities make June the perfect month to get your brand involved in an awareness campaign. In this blog we’ll give you the details on every awareness event this month, which range from month-long to a single day, so you have flexibility in how much time and energy you need to put into it. Even better, these are all national (if not global events), so you’ll be in good company when it comes to celebrating — and you don’t necessarily have to tackle the whole event soup to nuts. As these are official awareness events, there are plenty of existing ideas and materials you can customize to fit your own unique branch of an event. To ensure your event has a lasting impact, consider adding promotional items into the mix. This can be a small item for all participants, or something higher value as part of a prize for a competition. Whichever route you go, a promotional item serves to not only commemorate your involvement in the event, but as a reminder of your brand and the products/services you offer year-round.

Below, we offer insight on all June awareness events, complete with a link to learn more about the event, and a few suggestions for how to get your brand involved.

Holidays and Observances in June

While there are no major holidays in June, there are still plenty of reasons to celebrate. Check out the handful of awareness events, from LGBT Pride to World Environment Day.

• Father’s Day – Being a parent is a tireless, often thankless job (as any parent knows!). With Mother’s Day in May, it’s only fitting that Father’s Day follows in June. A day to celebrate and honor fathers, it’s held the third Sunday in June – in 2020 it falls on June 21. This can be a great opportunity for your brand, especially if you are in the mens or family space. Consider offering a special discount or a free (promotional) gift for any purchase made this month, or hosting a social media campaign asking customers to post pictures with their fathers including your campaign’s hashtag.
• Flag Day – There wasn’t an official American flag during the American Revolution, causing colonists to fight under their own various flags. In an effort to unify their efforts in 1775, Congress met to create the first American flag; however, it was so similar to the British flag that it was updated in 1777 to what is now the first iteration of our current flag. The updated flag became official on June 14 – today known as Flag Day. Consider showing your patriotism and love of country this June 14 with patriotic promotional gifts for customers emblazoned with the American flag.
• LGBT Pride Month – After facing decades of stigma, inequality, and even violence, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month promotes dignity, equality, self-affirmation, and increased visibility for those identifying as LGBT. Getting involved in this awareness month is a great opportunity for any business looking to help spread equality, safety, and love for the LGBT population. Consider supporting one of the many parades or other events happening around the country, hosting your own fundraiser to support LGBT charities, or launching a social media campaign to continue to spread the peace and love.
• Families in Business Week – Family businesses are a source of pride and an example of hard work. As a critical part of our economy, it’s important to celebrate and support their efforts. Families in Business Week is held the second week in June. If you own a family business, consider gifting promotional items to customers as a way to thank them for their continued support, as well as provide them with a physical reminder of your business.
• National Candy Month – Chocolate, candies, gum, mints, and more…who doesn’t love candy? National Candy Month is an opportunity to celebrate everything sweet about our favorite confections. Getting onboard with this celebration is a no-brainer if you’re in the sweets space. Consider hosting a candy trivia online campaign, with the winner receiving a basket of sweets (which we can help customize with your branding).
• National Selfie Day – Selfies have slowly crept into our current culture over the past decade as smartphones and social media emerged. At this point most of us recognize the importance of good lighting and showing your “good side”. National Selfie Day is the perfect opportunity to truly perfect your selfie – or get your business involved in the fun. Host a selfie-centric social media campaign with a unique hashtag to unite customers. We’ve got the perfect gift for the winner — a customized promotional selfie stick  or a selfie ring light. National Selfie Day is held annually on June 21.
• National Hydration Day – Our bodies are about 60% water! – we need water to survive. While we all know to drink about 8 glasses of water a day, many of us fall short. National Hydration Day, held annually on June 23, is a reminder to stay on top of our water intake, especially during the heat of summer. This could be a great opportunity for your brand to get behind if you’re in the health, wellness, or physical fitness space. Consider giving away promotional drinkware to customers who get involved.
• Social Media Day – A whopping 45% of the world’s population is active on social media. Within the U.S., about 69% of adults use social media. Social Media Day is a day to celebrate all the good it brings to our everyday lives, such as sharing information and connecting people from all over the globe with a simple click. We hope your brand has a presence on social media (a perfect way to stay in constant contact with your customers). Use your social media accounts to celebrate Social Media Day, held annually on June 30, to encourage your customers to get active on social media. Consider hosting a contest with promotional prizes for the winners.
• National Safety Month – Celebrate the importance of safety this June during National Safety Month. It aims to educate people on the leading safety and health risks in a bid to reduce the number of accidental injuries and deaths in the U.S. This may be a great awareness day to get involved in for a brand in the health, security, or safety field.
• World Environment Day – The need to protect our environment has reached a fever pitch. The stats don’t look great, from climate change to endangered/extinction lists, deforestation, and the loss of clean water, people are realizing we need to act now. World Environment Day, created by the United Nations, is a day to spread awareness about these harrowing threats and to encourage people to take action in their everyday lives to protect the environment. It is held annually on June 5. Since the environment affects all of us, this is an awareness day any brand can help support.
• Effective Communications Month – Effective communication is an important part of any business. Whether sharing the vision of your brand to internal staff or looking to communicate externally, solid communication is key. Effective Communications Month serves as a good reminder to spruce up your communications strategy. Consider hosting an event with customers, sending out a survey to get feedback on how customers feel about your communications, or hosting a social media campaign to share tips on effective communications.

Medical Awareness in June

June has a handful of different medical awareness days that may be appropriate for your brand to promote, particularly if you are in the health, wellness, or medical-related field, such as a hospital, research, or pharmaceutical company. Below you’ll find the list of June awareness days with a brief description of each to help determine if joining in on any of these days fits your brand and messaging. If you do opt to join any of these campaigns, we suggest reaching out to the organizers, or incorporating some of their communication pieces (many have available toolkits that include items like promotional posters and social media copy you can tailor) into your work to ensure you are representing the cause accurately.

• Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month – Over 50 million people around the world are currently estimated to live with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementias. That number is expected to rise, particularly in the U.S. where the enormous Baby Boomer generation is reaching older age. Though it has been studied extensively, there is no current cure or treatment to slow down its progression, only treatments to help symptoms. Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month is dedicated to spreading the word about the disease and a way to show support for the millions of people who have been affected by it.
• National Cancer Survivors Day – An estimated 5,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every day in the U.S. – a whopping number. But, there are an estimated 17 million cancer survivors (in the U.S.) National Cancer Survivors Day is a celebration of life and seeks to celebrate survivors, serve as inspiration for those currently battling the disease, provide support to families affected by cancer, and be an outreach to communities around the world. It is held the first Sunday in June annually; in 2020 it is June 7.
• PTSD Awareness Month – PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, affects roughly 8 million adults in the U.S. in any given year. It occurs following a trauma that a person has difficulty recovering from, such as sexual assault. Women are twice as likely to experience it as men. Veterans are another group at higher risk of developing PTSD. PTSD Awareness Month aims to not only raise awareness about the condition, but spread the word about diagnosis, treatment, and care for those going through it.
• Family Health & Fitness Day – Staying active with your family is not only a great way to instill healthy habits in your children, but a way to increase family bonding by sharing activities together, such as hiking and biking. Family Health & Fitness Day is held the second Saturday every June; in 2020 it is June 13.
• National Health Care Risk Management Week – Ensuring that patients receive safe and high quality health care is an important job, and certainly one that deserves celebrating. National Health Care Management Week seeks to show gratitude to the risk management and patient safety professionals who work tirelessly year round for the public’s good. It’s held during the third full week in June; in 2020 it runs from June 22-26.
• National Nursing Assistants Week – Nurses are the backbone of the U.S. health care system, but they can’t do it alone. Nursing assistants help provide basic care, such as bathing, grooming, and feeding when patients can’t do these tasks themselves. National Nursing Assistants Week is an opportunity to show your gratitude for the tough and often thankless work they do. In 2020 it is June 18-24.
• Men’s Health Month – Men’s Health Months seeks to bring awareness to preventable health issues that men face and promote early detection and treatment of disease. Common activities include hosting screenings and health fairs.   
• World Blood Donor Day – Blood donations are literally life saving for many people who receive them, whether for a chronic condition or following an accident, etc. Ensuring an adequate supply of safe blood can be a challenge around the globe. World Blood Donor Day raises awareness about the need for a safe supply, as well as celebrates the many donors who gift their blood. It is celebrated annually on June 14 — a perfect day to hold a blood drive.

As you can see, there are plenty of opportunities to get your brand involved in an awareness event this June — we hope we have sparked your imagination on just how big you can go, whether you hold a local, in-person event, or go broad with an online social media campaign. Once you’ve decided on an event that aligns with your brand, reach out to ePromos to brainstorm what promotional product can be the icing to your cake. We’ll walk you through each step of the process, from dreaming up the perfect customized product, to ensuring easy, on-time delivery — all backed by our 110% satisfaction guarantee.

I don’t see where this is a good prize —  just a single selfie stick? But, if there are numerous winners, then the company would need to order many of them.