Another Great Cause We Support

We received news recently that the niece of one of our extended Suntrek family was just diagnosed with a very severe disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type 1. I am forwarding this to everyone in hope that you can all take a moment to sign the SMA Treatment Acceleration Act. Scientists believe that this disease has a high probability of a cure, but they need continued funding. I thank you all in advance for taking a moment to tell the government that these children deserve a fighting chance. If you are interesting in doing more please see below.

Raise Awareness
Spinal Muscular Atrophy is the number one genetic killer of children under the age of two, but have you ever heard of it? SMA is an inherited and often fatal disease that destroys the nerves controlling voluntary muscle movement, which affects crawling, walking, head and neck control, and even swallowing. Two new-born children are affected each day in the United States, approximately 1 in 6,000 live births. One in every 40 people carries the gene that causes SMA, which means there are more than seven million carriers in the United States alone. Currently there is no treatment or cure. However, given the remarkable advances of the past fifteen years, scientists now believe SMA may have a greater probability of realizing a treatment or cure than any other major genetic disease. However, development of these treatments within the next few years will likely require $20-30 million or more of sustained annual research funding.

Write a letter or call your representatives in Congress to cosponsor and/or vote for the SMA Treatment Acceleration Act
The 111th Congress is expected to end October 8th, so contact is critical ASAP. Here is a link with information on the Act and a model letter, but in the coming days, we will provide more information on how best to advocate for passage of this bill in this session.

Sign the Petition in support of the SMA Treatment Acceleration Act

Donate
http://www.fsma.org/Fundraising/
http://www.reeve.uci.edu/Giving/Default.aspx
http://gwendolynstrongfoundation.org/donation
https://www.smafoundation.org/donation

Shop
Macy’s Shop for a Cause, Saturday, Oct. 16th. Purchase a Macy’s shopping pass for $5 and you can get up to 25% off your purchases for this one day only. 100% of every pass we sell will go towards Families of SMA. Here’s a link.

Walk
Sunday, November 7, 2010 8:30 a.m. Cure SMA Walk N’ Roll, Johnny Carson Park, Burbank
Here’s a link.

For our friends in the Bay Area, the Northern California Walk N’ Roll in San Francisco, October 24th, 10:30 a.m. Golden Gate Park

Thank you for your help.