The story of The Good Samaritan is well known, and has influenced American culture for centuries. Regardless of your opinion of Christianity, Christ existed as a true historical humanitarian who encouraged all of us to reach out with love to those in need. In this parable, an educated man asks Christ to define for him who his neighbor was, so that he might follow proper law and fulfill what was considered necessary to be deemed a righteous man. Christ shares the story of a man who was beaten, robbed, and abandoned for dead. The plight of the beaten man was ignored by some who passed by him and determined not to offer assistance, or even to acknowledge him. Finally a man passed by and went out of his way both financially and socially to offer care and support for the beaten man. Christ asks, ‘which one was a neighbor to the beaten man?’ Christ turns the concern of the self- righteous man from ‘who is my neighbor?’ to ‘are you being a neighbor to others?’ Good Samaritan Day offers us an opportunity to celebrate the call to reach out with love and compassion to others. While this ought to be an everyday occurrence for each of us, it often is not. Instituting Good Samaritan Day will help us to remember, at least once a year, that we ought to go out of our way to show love towards each other, and especially those who are in need. It helps remind us that our concern should not be about determining who is ‘acceptable’ for us to help, and instead should be about asking ourselves if we are being the kind of person who does help others, regardless of color, race, gender, or faith. While it is true that we can not and should not try to ‘institutionalize’ compassion, it is equally true that we ought to do whatever we can to encourage it. Please sign this petition to create a National Good Samaritan Day. We are suggesting the second Sunday in March. After offering your support by signing this petition, please think of what you personally can do to ‘celebrate’ your ability to reach out with compassion to others- by actually participating in an act of compassion, however big or small you feel led. Thank-you.