Juvenille Arthritis Fundraiser in Chicago

 LOCAL FOUNDATION ASKS PUBLIC TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR KIDS WITH ARTHRITIS:

There are more children with juvenile arthritis than children with diabetes, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy & cerebral palsy combined

Help children with arthritis by attending the Arthritis Foundation’s sixth annual SHINDIG fundraiser event on Friday, September 9, from 6-9 PM. It is open to the public and will be located at Rockit Bar & Grill, 22 W. Hubbard Street in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Admission includes drinks and passed appetizers. Entry is $45 in advance and $55 at the door. Pre-registration is recommended. Buy tickets or donate by visiting http://AFChicagoShindigKintera.org. All proceeds from this annual event support the Arthritis Foundation’s programs for children with arthritis and their families.

“Think of your child waking up screaming or coming to you crying in pain that her body, her legs, or hips or jaw hurts, and she can’t hardly move them, or that her eyes are hurting and they are blurry so she woke up with excruciating pain.” – Kim Warren, mother of Bailey, child with arthritis

Juvenile Arthritis (JA) affects 300,000 children in the US. It is an auto-immune disease that attacks all of the joints in the body. As you can probably imagine, having a child with Juvenile Arthritis can be extremely draining to families like the Warrens. The diagnosis is physically, emotionally and very often financially draining to those affected by the disease. Children with JA are in incredible pain from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep each night. While doctors and scientists attempt to find the right treatments, children like Bailey spend most of their youth in and out of doctor offices.

As a volunteer driven organization, the Arthritis Foundation is the single largest non-profit funder of arthritis research in the world, addressing the needs of all Americans affected by arthritis. Arthritis is the #1 form of disability in the United States. Since 1948, the Arthritis Foundation has invested more than $380 million in arthritis research supporting 2,200 scientists in 100 institutions.

Young Bailey Warren does not look like a child affected by chronic disease, yet she lives every one of her days battling Juvenile Arthritis. Already in her short life, Bailey has undergone many surgeries, injections, steroids and infusions. Bailey recently made a turn for the worst. Not only is her body inflamed and her joints in constant pain, but her vision has recently become blurry too due to Uveitis which can ultimately lead to blindness.

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For more information about this, contact Katie Stewart at  katiestew18@hotmail.com. You can also view Katie’s blog about living with adult Rheumatoid Arthritis at katiestew.wordpress.com.

2011 Associate Leadership Council Shindig

Please join us for a summer shindig! The Arthritis Foundation Associate Leadership Council invites all to our annual event that will be at Rockit Bar & Grill on Friday, September 9, 2011.