Support a Classmate--Help Cure Parkinson's

Dearest classmates,

I need your help. I’m trying to raise money to support research into better medications and an eventual cure for Parkinson’s Disease. I support a lot of different causes – I give money for research to battle Multiple Sclerosis and breast cancer, and I call in to those annoying telephone drives for National Public Radio. But PD is closest to my heart—that’s because I have it.

I was diagnosed with Young-Onset PD two years ago, in January 2007. I’m on great medication and doing really well – I feel healthy and happy and struggle only marginally with the physical limitations the disease foists on me. But I don’t know what’s coming. And that’s why I need your help. Your donation – even just a little bit of cash – will go a long way to supporting valuable research of organizations like the Parkinson’s Foundation and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. I picked the Parkinson’s Unity Walk as my cause because 100% of the proceeds raised for the annual event go to research.

Think of it as a dollar per drop of dopamine (the dying neurotransmitters in my brain). Every dollar you contribute will go toward discovering medicines like Azilect, the miracle drug that’s helping me function so well today, as well as other meds that exist only in the lab right now.

I’m not selling Girl Scout cookies, I’m not raising money to go to cheerleading camp in Florida or a school trip to Washington, D.C. I’m selfishly trying to buy myself (and hundreds of thousands of other people like me) a little bit more time, to slow down the progression of this relentless disease, to try to fix what’s broken in my brain.

Thank you, Bettina H. Chavanne


Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Parkinson's Unity Walk

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