On January 8, 1981, Joan E. White of Syracuse, New York, was reading the newspaper when she came across a story about a California couple who offered to worry for others in exchange for a fee. White believed this approach to facing the world's problems was flawed and decided to create an organization to counteract the worriers. She founded Joygerms Unlimited and designated January 8 as Joygerm Day, on what also happened to be her late mother Nora's birthday. Shortly after forming Joygerms Unlimited, White began responding to requests from people asking to join the group; she allowed people to join free of charge, as long as they sent her a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Although Joygerms Day was unofficially first held on January 8, 1981, when the idea for it and Joygerms Unlimited came about, it didn't become a "national" day until 1985. The goal of the day is to "smile, hug, grin, and win over at least one grumpy grouch." It is a day to sprea