Hello everyone! Thank you so much for viewing our CF Great Strides fundraising page! Let me introduce myself– I’m Lauren Kelly, I’m 19 and I live in Brighton IL with my parents, Dave and Debbie. I was diagnosed with CF at 3.5 months, and I’ve been looking for a cure ever since. I have to do several breathing treatments per day, and I have to be on a tube feeding every night for extra caloric support.
CF does not prevent me from doing what I love. I love showing horses, and I show Paint horses on a national scale. I just moved up from the Youth division to the Amateur division this year. Last year I finished the year #5 on the APHA’s Honor Roll in Youth 14-18 Hunter Under Saddle, and the #5 14-18 All Around in Zone 5 (States including IL, MO, MN, IA, and WI) with my mount, Sheik Sock Broker (fondly known as Chaps).
I have been blessed to find excellent doctors at Barnes-Jewish hospital in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Daniel Rosenbluth and Dr. Jeffrey Atkinson are my CF specialists at Barnes.
Please help us raise money for the research and cure of CF. With prior donations, drugs have been developed to lessen the symptoms of CF, but no drug has been developed to correct the gene itself. That is until 2011. In early 2011, a drug began the clinical trials needed for approval. This drug, called VR496, has been developed to hopefully correct part of the gene that causes CF. Lord willing, with more research and funds, scientists and doctors will find even more opportunities to develop drugs like VR496 to hopefully one day, make CF stand for CURE FOUND.
GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s largest and most successful national fundraising event. This year, I’m walking in the GREAT STRIDES walk at the 2011 St. Louis – Carondelet Park, Boathouse walk on 05/14/2011. Please help me meet my fundraising goal of $1,000.00 by sponsoring me. Your generous gift will be used efficiently and effectively, as nearly 90 cents of every dollar of revenue raised is available for investment in vital CF programs to support research, care and education.
We have set a modest goal of $1000. Making a donation is easy and secure! Any amount you can donate is greatly appreciated!
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a devastating genetic disease that affects tens of thousands of children and young adults in the United States. Research and care supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is making a huge difference in extending the quality of life for those with CF. However, we continue to lose precious lives to CF every day. That’s why your help is needed now more than ever to ensure that a cure is found sooner – rather than later. To learn more about CF and the CF Foundation, visit www.cff.org.
Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those with CF! Thank you for supporting the mission of the CF Foundation and GREAT STRIDES!
Click here to view Lauren’s GREAT STRIDES page and donate to a great cause!
