What is it?

The 2009 Father's Day Rally is an effort to change the culture for today's children and the children of coming generations by calling men to make a formal commitment to their children and then challenging them to fulfill it. The Rally will be held on June 20, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Local Rallies are being planned around the country. By Father’s Day, our goal is for 1,000,000 men to make their commitment to Love their children, Coach their children, Model for their children, Encourage other children, and Enlist other dads to join the team. You can make your commitment using the link to the right, and find out how to be involved in a Rally by visiting fathersdayrally.com.

Why should you be involved?

First and foremost, because your children need you. Every child needs a dad they can count on, and participating in the Rally and making your commitment will help you become the father your children need.

Second, there's a crisis at hand. Father-absence affects about 24 million children in America, and it’s spreading. It’s linked to higher rates of poverty, failure in school, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, violent crime, depression, and ultimately a loss of hope. Your children are growing up in that culture, and they’re being affected—even if you’re an involved dad! If our culture continues on its current path, things will likely be much worse in all these areas for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Third, together, we can make a difference for coming generations. Over the long term, we want to help create a culture of responsible fatherhood by calling out 6½ million dads (10% of the fathers in America) who will make a commitment to be the father their kids need and help bring about cultural change. Please make the 2009 Father's Day Commitment today—and ask five other dads to join you.

You can also download commitment cards for you and other dads to sign and then send in to be counted.

Join our group on

Join the

2009 Father's Day

team today!

We're seeking to enlist 6.5 million dads!

You can help enlist dads for the 2009 Father's Day Commitment by posting our "widget" on your website or your Facebook profile. It's a version of the above link and counter that will automatically track how many Father's Day Commitments came from your site or page as well as the running total.
Instructions here: for web pages - for Facebook.

Loving Coaching Modeling

Encouraging Enlisting

Research at the National Center for Fathering identified three key fundamentals of the 2009 Father's Day Commitment: Loving, Coaching, and Modeling. To truly make a difference in our culture, fathers also need to Encourage Other Kids and Enlist Other Dads to join the team. (See below for links to articles on each topic.)

Loving - Time, talk, and touch to nurture our children as well as honor and respect their mother. Watch this video for a moving example of a father’s love.

Coaching - Shaping a child includes being highly involved and being aware of the child's needs and interests. This video reveals how a coach (and a father) can motivate and empower.

Modeling - We need consistency as we live out the values we want to transmit to our children. Watch this video about the power—and the responsibility—of being a role model.

Read more about:

Loving - Coaching - Modeling
Encouraging - Enlisting