Thank you for making our 2015 Gift of Hope campaign a tremendous success! As you know, our goal was $100,000. As of yesterday, our fundraising total had reached $137,000. The average gift for the 2015 Gift of Hope Challenge was almost $200. With our generous Board of Directors Challenge Match of $0.50 for every dollar donated, the 2015 Gift of Hope Challenge campaign total is more than $205,000!
This is important because I am convinced that 2016 will be the most impactful year thus far in the struggle to diagnose, treat, and cure celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Here at Celiac Disease Foundation, we have a number of critical initiatives underway that our record-breaking Gift of Hope Challenge will help support. Let me quickly highlight three:
1) The launch of our new Patient-Powered Research Network, iCureCeliac, that will help researchers develop and test, with more precision and speed, treatments and, eventually, a cure for celiac disease using the disciplines of Big Data.
2) The Patient Engagement Celiac Disease Network (PECDN), an exciting program to train celiac disease patients around the country to be forceful patient advocates in celiac disease research and disease management.
3) A program at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, in partnership with the Simon Family Foundation, to develop an effective national physician training curriculum to recognize and order celiac disease screening for the millions of Americans who continue to suffer.
We have a lot of work to do in 2016. Our 2015 Gift of Hope donations have certainly helped. If you did not make a 2015 Gift of Hope, I encourage you to make a generous tax-deductible gift today. We offer many options for giving, including small monthly contributions or gifts of stocks and/or other assets. If you made your 2015 Gift of Hope, I thank you again and look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Together we are making a difference. That, more than anything else, is what matters.
To Our Health,
Marilyn
P.S. I will represent CDF at the 2016 Los Angeles Marathon on February 14, 2016! Your support is greatly appreciated! Visit my page here.