“National days” have become a huge trend in society. Days like, National Awkward Moments Day (March 18), National Ravioli Day (March 20) and National Puppy Day (March 23) are just a few “National days” that have been observed within the past couple of weeks.

Some of the most interesting “National Days” consist of; National No Pants Day (May 6), National Bow Tie Day (August 28) and National Spicy Guacamole Day (November 14), just to name a few.

One nationally observed day that was recently brought to my attention was National Mom and Pop Business Owners day (March 29). As crazy as all of these days get, it’s refreshing to have a day dedicated specially to the brave soles who have opened their own “mom and pop” businesses.

Although, not all locally ran businesses are considered to be a “mom and pop” type of shop, it’s difficult for local, independent businesses to thrive in the growing economy of outsourcing everything possible. But there are still ambitious people out there refusing to let their independent businesses die and doing everything they can to compete with large corporations.

Supporting small business owners is important because it’s essentially recycling money back into local economies. Most small business owners, for example, family-owned restaurants, typically keep their spending local as well, putting the money they make back into the economies in which they live.

When I was growing up, my parents made a point of supporting local farms and businesses rather than grabbing all of our groceries from the same store that has thousands of franchises all across the country. Part of reasoning being the delicious fresh produce, but the other part being that it’s helping out someone in our community who is making a living off of their own independent efforts.

Regardless of where people live, local businesses can be found anywhere. Remember the individuals that had a dream of running their own “Mom and Pop” place and finally go visit that coffee shop or diner that you’ve heard about a thousand times but have never ventured to experience. Help out a local business in an economy that’s overtaking all the independent establishments that are left.