Association Givers Have Their Say

By Emily Hedrick, CFIDS Association Director of Development

All year round, gifts from CFS patients, their friends and families provide support to the entire CFS community by enabling the Association to spend money where it’s needed most: on patient support, research, public awareness, public policy advocacy and medical provider education. It’s these unrestricted gifts—more than 80% of which come from individuals just like you—that create a solid financial platform from which the Association can do it’s work.

Without that financial stability, all of the Association’s ongoing programs—from the research campaign to public awareness to patient support—would flounder.

From the giver’s perspective it’s primarily about helping others (and themselves) and working collectively to conquer this illness. But don’t take my word for it. Here are recent comments from donors whose gifts make it possible for the CFIDS Association of America to serve the CFS community:

“I first got sick 25 years ago, but I’m not helpless. Contributing monthly to the CFIDS Association was something I could do to make a difference. I can’t find a solution to this illness, but I can give money so somebody else can. In the meantime, I’m going on with my life.”
- Lisa B. Karpf, Long Beach, CA, makes automated monthly donations through the CFIDS Association's Chairman’s Circle program.

“I just think we’ve all got to reach out and support one another. We’ve all got to take some ownership in this quest to conquer this disease. If we’re not willing to take on the challenge ourselves, how can we expect it to be everybody else’s job? I think when you give, you get back tenfold. What if we all gave the equivalent of just one dinner a month (to the Association)? Or even better, one dinner a week? That would really add up.”
- Stephanie Hopkins, Mesa, AZ, has been an active volunteer for many years in the Arizona CFS Association, on whose behalf she made a recent gift.

“We give in honor of our wonderful grandson [who has been living with CFS] since 1998. He has had a horrible struggle with it, but he’s doing better now. If just one other person can avoid what he’s been through, it’s worth it.”
- Betty Kerr, Port Charlotte, FL, has been an annual donor since 2000.

“I’ve been a member of the Chairman’s Circle since forever. It’s painless, and the best way I know to help the Association and know that my charitable gifts are taken care of. This way, too, the organization knows it has income it can count on.”
- Carrie Potts, Kalama, WA, made her first gift to the Association in 1997, joined the CFIDS Association's Chairman’s Circle the next year and has given continuously through monthly gifts ever since.

And last but not least, Sister Sandra Duma of the Franciscan Order of the Sacred Heart, Illinois (Association donor since 1998) shares:
“No matter what your faith or religious background, I believe we’re all connected to a greater depth of reality and connected with one another. When we give to a cause greater than ourselves, we’re affirming that connection.

“I have such a sense of gratitude to the Association for standing up for all of us who couldn’t. I’ve been so impressed by how the Association has worked on the federal level on policy changes and worked to build recognition of CFS as a serious illness. In everything the Association has done, I found a sense of hope, a sense that there’s a community united with me in this journey.
           
“I don’t know what I would have done all these years without the knowledge that the CFIDS Association was behind me. My health has improved. I still have ups and downs, but my goal is to give more service to other CFS patients, and that includes donating what I can. The CFIDS Association saved my life, and with the new research initiative they’re still giving me hope!

In the end, the reasons individuals give to the CFIDS Association and the reason the Association needs these gifts boils down to the same thing: To help the CFS community while working to conquer CFS. You can join these givers by donating online now. It only takes a few moments.

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One convenient way to donate is through the Chairman’s Circle, a monthly giving program that allows for automatic monthly deductions. To read more about the Chairman’s Circle from Jennie Spotila, Chairman of the Association’s Board of Directors, click here.