(Image source: Twitter)
Happy Red Nose Day, everyone! Don’t worry, this day has nothing to do with celebrating creepy clowns or hay fever. It is a charity event put on by NBC, Walgreens, M&M’s, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with proceeding going towards helping disadvantaged children.
The Red Nose Day charity, which has raised over $1 billion over the last 25 years, helps provide essentials such as clean water, education, and food to children who do not have access to these necessities. Half of the money raised this year will go to children in the United States while the other half will go to children in some of the poorer communities in areas such as Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
All you have to do to give support is buy a red clown nose from your local Walgreens and the proceeds will then go to the cause. For further support, you could wear the clown nose as you go about your daily business. This will help spread word of the charity because of everyone who sees you wearing the nose will look up why someone would be wearing a clown nose for no apparent reason. Of course, this only works if you are wearing normal clothes and not a clown outfit at the same time.
If that idea seems too embarrassing, you could always just take a photo of yourself wearing the clown nose and post it to your social media outlet of choice with the hashtag #RedNoseDay, so the rest of the world can see you wearing the nose without you noticing them doing so.
But why is the clown nose the symbol of this charity? It is not just so the charity can get away with calling itself a FUN-raiser (many people are divided on the issue of whether clowns are actually fun), but because the main fundraising event is a two hour primetime television event broadcasted live on NBC featuring a wide range of comedians including WIll Ferrell, Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Fallon. It will also have live music from John Mellencamp, Keith Urban, U2 and others. All of it will be hosted by Craig Ferguson.
The show airs tonight, beginning at 9/8c p.m. on NBC and you can check out the Red Nose Day or NBC websites for more information or to make a direct donation.