It’s Valentine’s Day, and as popular as this day has been through the years, many people hold different opinions on what it stands for and their reasons for celebrating it or not.  We put out the question “What is Valentines Day and what has it got to do with charity?”  What follows are the submissions of some #FLAFriends…

Ijeoma says, “I’m usually not one to celebrate Valentine’s Day because of the meaning most people attach to it.  However, after looking  into why and how it came about, I see it as a day to celebrate love in a special way (I said in a special way because love should be celebrated daily)”.

Sam says, “It’s a day the christian world remembers and celebrates the life of a man who, against all odds, reached out and gave even until death to those who were in need through service.  He gave sacrificially what they could not give themselves, even in the face of fierce persecution.  Hence, we celebrate his acts of love on his day”.

Jennifer puts hers this way;  “It is a day to share and give ‘in a special way’, different from the way you have been giving.  We should give every time we get the chance to, but on this day, we make it different, make it special, to say because you’re here, today is not just a usual day, and I’m celebrating the fact that I found love in you”.

To Emeka, Valentine’s Day is similar to a birthday, when someone is especially celebrated. “For me” he says, “love ought to be celebrated everyday.  However, Valentine’s Day is then set aside, like birthdays, to celebrate love specially.  Love is not limited to the one shared between dating or married couples, but also between friends and family and those that are less privileged than we are”.

Nedum says, “It is a day we remember our loved ones, a day we emphasize something we all do at different levels, and a chance to make people who do not directly feel loved to know love”.  Tara puts it even more succinctly, “We give love on Valentines Day to the ones who do not have love.  That way we have one less broken heart, and one less in a hurting society”.

Whatever is your take on this topic, love is the reason for the season and it makes all the difference.  Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Fair Life Africa Foundation.