Jurdy Hero of Happiness
Since 2008 Jurdy® has appeared on the pages of Living Well Magazine. We thought you would like to know more about Jurdy and how this character has matured throughout the years. Jurdy is more than a cartoon character, meet the mascot and hero of “happy-ness”. Jurdy® was born of a deep desire to share universal well-being the way Superman came to Earth to protect humanity. With humor and compassion as super-powers, Jurdy brings to light an intuitive and holistic way to live, love and laugh for humans of all ages, races, genders and backgrounds. Larger than life, this lovable character stands tall for teaching us that no one—be it family, friend or foe—can take away our happy-ness.
Jurdy® creator, Jenifer Jurden is a native of Wilmington, Delaware and was raised in a cartooning household where making others laugh was top priority. She credits her mother Faye Jurden, for instilling in her an intuitive sense of giving to others and never giving up, and her father Jack Jurden, a longtime syndicated editorial cartoonist, for her abilities to infuse a unique outlook on seemingly simple everyday life. Now this Jurden and Jurdy duo is on a mission to offer comic relief and compassion to bring “happy-ness” to others around the globe.
In 2010, Jurdy® traveled to Haiti as the country was in the midst of recovering from the worst earthquake in its history. Jurdy’s mission: Teach these children, their families and friends that optimism and well-being are in us all no matter the circumstances, be it hardship, heartbreak or even the devastation of an earthquake. When Bullying became a topic of conversation Jurdy launched a texting acronym campaign to help educators spotlight the horrors of bullying. By speaking to children in their own “language”, Jurdy is able to grab their attention and strongly impact their daily decisions to make healthy choices, like FAM—Friends Always Motivate, BFF—Bullies Fizzle Fast, ’SUP—Speak Up and CHILL—Choose Happy. It’s Loving Life.
But Jurdy realizes as a Super Hero that their work is never done.
Recently, Jurdy joined forces with the twist legend Chubby Checker to launch the international “Twist Away Childhood Cancer Challenge” to benefit Mascots for A Cure, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, Kasie Helpz Kidz Foundation and the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. Similar to other successful fundraising challenges, the “Twist Challenge” leverages the power of videos shared on social media, text and email. Participants take the Twist Challenge with friends, family and co-workers, and make a donation to Mascots For A Cure. The Twist Challenge campaign launched on September 21st, “National Twist Day”, and coincided with September’s National Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
Currently, Jurdy‘s creator is developing a whimsical cartoon line which she has humorously coined
Jurdyatrics™ to help the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers.
Jurden’s advice to the world for Living Well? “Don’t ever let anyone take away your happy-ness—no matter who you are, no matter where you are.” Jurden believes this is the key to success in every area of our lives.”
