Today is May 12, 2016 and the 24th anniversary of May 12th International Awareness Day for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases (CIND).
We’ve come a long way since the launch of this event by the late Thomas Hennessy JR. We accomplish more every year. While there is still so very much to be done, you should know however, that we will accomplish our goals and one day these illnesses will exist only in the history books.
The snowball has been made and it has started its journey down the hill growing in size with every inch it travels. It is now unstoppable. It will continue to grow daily until it’s so large there will be a massive breakthrough.
Our team of volunteers are determined to see that the snowball progresses at a much faster rate and along its way, we will help to implement changes to improve the quality of life for individuals impacted by CIND illnesses like Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Fibromyalgia and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. We will strive to allow these individuals to live life with dignity, respect and support.
To that end, the May 12th team has taken a bold step this past year to help us reach our goals. We decided in December 2015 that it was time to formalize our team structure and turn it into a registered charity so that we can have even greater impact. We shifted some of our efforts temporarily away from May 12th for this year only, and began the work required to create an organization and obtain charitable status. It’s been a tremendous challenge, but in just a few short months we are well on our way.
Our new organization, Action CIND, was founded, registered as an incorporated non-profit and our charitable status application was submitted. It is currently under review by the authorities. We crafted what we feel is a strong application and we’re hopeful it will be approved once it’s reviewed later this year.
Our mission is to advance the recognition, empathy, treatment and support services for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases (CIND) by raising awareness, advancing research, developing education, establishing treatment centres, providing information and support services and collaborating with other organizations in Canada and internationally.
We’re assembling a strong team and have taken on a tremendous challenge. We look forward to working with individuals and existing organizations to bring about the change the CIND community so desperately requires. We look forward to bigger and more impactful May 12th initiatives.
Next year is the 25th anniversary of May 12th. We must make it a day to be remembered. I invite all of you to contact us at info@may12th.org and share your ideas for next year. We’ll also need many more volunteers and donations, so please let us know if you can help out in these areas too.
For now, please take advantage of this day to tell one person about it. Ask them to tell one person and to request that individual also tell one other person. If we all do this, the number of people in the world that will learn about the illnesses will grow exponentially. It’s a simple thing to do, yet it could have a very significant impact. Will you do it?
I’ll close by thanking Sally Burch for once again running the #May12BlogBomb this year. It’s always a great success. I encourage you to read about it on her blog http://sallyjustme.blogspot.ca/.
On behalf of the Action CIND team, I thank all of you for helping to make this another successful May12th. Every little thing you do will help bring us one step closer to conquering these very disabling illness. I look forward to hearing your ideas for the 25th anniversary and working with you in the days ahead.
Sincerely
Alison Rae
Board Chair and CEO
Action CIND