September is Pain Awareness Month. This year, I mailed letters asking Governor Newsom to proclaim it in California, asking the California Department of Public Health to sponsor that request, and asking Mayor Karen Bass to proclaim it in Los Angeles—and to light City Hall blue for a night.
These are the actual letters I sent, with my personal details replaced by placeholders so you can make them your own. A proclamation costs a stamp and an hour of your time.
Your government saying, in its own voice, that your pain is real—that is worth an hour.
Four lessons from my own submissions:
1. Start early. Some states, including California, ask for proclamation requests 90 days before the date you’re requesting. For a September proclamation, that means mailing by early June—but late requests are sometimes accommodated, so send yours regardless.
2. Find your state’s sponsoring agency. Some governors’ offices route proclamation requests through the state agency that owns the topic. In California that’s the Department of Public Health, which is why there’s a third letter below. Call your governor’s office and ask how proclamation requests are handled—front desks will tell you.
3. Enclose draft proclamation language. Offices are far more likely to say yes when the document is already written. Both drafts below carry verified references for every statistic.
4. If you ask for a landmark lighting, offer a fallback. A full month of blue is a big ask; a single evening is an easy yes—and one photo of your city hall glowing blue is worth the trade.
Downloads:
• Letter to the Governor (template)
• Letter to the sponsoring health agency (template, California example)
• Letter to the Mayor, including the blue-lighting request (template)
• Draft proclamation — state version (California example)
• Draft proclamation — city version (Los Angeles example)
If you live outside California, swap in your own governor, mayor, and agency—the structure travels anywhere. And if you’d like help adapting a letter for your state or city, contact me through this site. I mean it; this is what I do.
These letters are adapted from the U.S. Pain Foundation’s Pain Awareness Month proclamation toolkit. The Foundation recognizes participating states and cities through its national newsletter, website, and social media—one more reason to send yours. Find their campaign and resources at uspainfoundation.org/painawarenessmonth.