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ME/FM 2017 FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

Donation protected
Help us reach our second and final goal of $10,000!! 

CURRENT GOAL:
Raise $7500 (reach $10,000 total) to help fund our Educational Brochure Campaign

 All donations appreciated, whether $5, $50 or $500!

Lots of gifts again for top donors! (see below)

PREVIOUS GOAL:
Raise $2500 to fund our May 2017 Awareness Efforts  ***GOAL MET—THANK YOU!!***

 
HELP US  EDUCATE AND EMPOWER PATIENTS

There are 100,000 people with ME and FM living in British Columbia.  Both diseases are poorly understood within the medical community and in the population at large.  Our Educational Brochure Campaign aims to get the most up to date and accurate information about these diseases into the hands of patients and their physicians.

Why Support This Campaign?
Imagine you wake up one morning so sick, in pain and exhausted you can barely move. Imagine this goes on for weeks and months, but doctor after doctor finds nothing wrong with you. And yet your confusing and debilitating range of symptoms persists and seems to be getting even worse.

Now imagine five years pass, you're worse than ever and you still don’t know what’s wrong with you.  You’re not well enough to work and your overall ability to do everyday activities is a fraction of what it once was. Doctors still can’t diagnose your illness, so your health insurance denies your claim for disability. You’re going through all your savings, still sick and with the added worry of supporting yourself and your family.

Doctors continue to tell you, overtly or subtly, that it must be all in your head.  How hopeless and scared would you feel?

Now imagine instead, that within a few months of becoming sick, you’re in the waiting room of yet another doctor. You pick up a brochure that describes symptoms just like yours. After your examination, the doctor still doesn’t know what’s wrong with you, so you hand him or her the brochure.  By the next visit, your doctor has reviewed the references on the ME/FM Society of BC’s website ,  found tools to properly diagnose your disease and, though there is no cure or treatment,  learned how to help you manage your symptoms.

The ME/FM Society of BC wants to make this second scenario a reality.

The sad truth today is that the average time people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and/or Fibromyalgia (FM) wait for a diagnosis is 5-7 years.  The disabling effects of these diseases, coupled with widespread ignorance about them within the medical community, has left many people in despair. Health surveys in Canada have shown that ME and FM patients have the greatest unmet health care needs of any patient group in Canada.

HELP US FUND AN EDUCATION CAMPAIGN PROVINCE-WIDE EDUCATIONAL BROCHURE CAMPAIGN

This is why the second goal of this 2017 ME/FM Society of BC GoFundMe fundraiser is an Educational Brochure Campaign.

A brochure may not sound like much. But getting information on these diseases into the hands of people living with them may make the difference between despair and hope. For many people, it is a huge relief to at last have a diagnosis, even though there are no treatments or cures for these diseases.

Early diagnoses and intervention have been shown to lead to better outcomes for patients. We want people to know about these diseases, as well as about the ME/FM Society of BC and how we can help.

Little money has been invested in research for ME and FM, few universities include information on the diseases in their medical or health sciences curricula, and misinformation abounds about both illnesses. 

The result? Knowledge about ME and FM is extremely limited in the medical community, so patients continue to be undiagnosed and all-too-often given harmful treatments.

So, our campaign has two goals:

1.    To give patients much needed information on ME and FM; and
2.    To give them a tool to help educate their doctors
 
Armed with this information, patients can be diagnosed and find better support much sooner.

 We’ll aim to have the brochures available in as many health-related offices in British Columbia as possible.  It will explain key symptoms, and direct patients and doctors to our website for further information and support.

For More About ME and the Society, please visit our website .


WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MEET OUR FINAL GOAL!

Thanks to generous support from our community, we reached our first goal of $2,500 to fund our May 12 ME&FM Awareness Day events!   Now we need your help to get us to our second goal of $10,000. These additional funds will go directly to our Educational Brochure Campaign.

GIFTS AVAILABLE FOR TOP DONORS!:

In appreciation of the donors who give the highest amounts between May 12th and June 30th, 2017, we are pleased to offer the following gifts, which have been generously donated to the Society:

Top Tier: For Donations of $300 or higher:
·         Jewellery Making Workshop: Juvilesto School of Metal Works - learn to make a gemstone ring or hand stamped bangle .
Donor: Juvelisto
Value: $200

·         Aldergrove Getaway: One night at Best Western Plus Country Meadows, Aldergrove - Jacuzzi suite - breakfast included -  (subject to availability)
Donor: Salma and Badru Moosa 
Value: $199

Second Tier: For Donations of $200 or higher:
·         Coaching Session: Level Connections Global Leadership Coaching & Consulting with Loretta Cella - 45 min coaching session focused on raising personal and professional leadership potential.  
Donor: Loretta Cella
Value: $125

·        Handmade Scarf: from Roco Wear
Donor: Roxana Oltean
Value: $100

·         Handmade Pendant: from Juvilesto  Custom Jewels 
Donor: Juvelisto
Value: $100

Third Tier: For Donations of $150 or higher:
·         Handmade Beaded Earrings : One of a kind brick-stitch earrings made with Japanese glass miyuki beads from Chief Yoga Studio 
Donor: Teresa Joe 
Value: $80

·         "Ferral" , 18" x 26",  Artwork Print -  by Jasmine Sanchez-Ziller 
Donor: Artist
Value: $80

·         “Metamorphosis II ” , 18" x 26" Artwork Print -  by Jasmine Sanchez-Ziller  
Donor: Artist
Value: $80

Fourth Tier: For Donations of $100 or higher:
·         Choices Markets Gift Certificate  #1
Donor: Waz Charlwood
Value: $50

·       Choices Markets Gift Certificate  #2
Donor: Waz Charlwood
Value: $50
_____________

The ME/FM Society of BC is a registered charitable organization, located in Vancouver, BC.

Registered charity (BN) #: 893185173RR0001


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Donations 

  • Sharon Rousseau
    • $35 
    • 6 yrs
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MEFM Society of BC
Organizer
Vancouver, BC

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