Grassroots Champions Fight for CFS Advances

More than 79 online activists achieved the ranks of Grassroots Champions this year by sending 50 or more messages to legislators, media and public health officials using the Association’s electronic Grassroots Action Center (GAC).
 
The GAC provides a quick and easy way to make your voice heard. Participants get periodic Action Alerts that share timely, targeted opportunities to make a difference for CFS. Templates provide the message specifics, and a few clicks later your message is on its way!
 
This led one recent Grassroots Champion to say, “The process is so effortless at this point that there’s no excuse for anyone with e-mail not to participate.”

Since the GAC was launched in 2004, 7,200 people have used it to send 29,504 messages to bring about change for everyone with CFS.

Says champion Lisa La Rosa, “There was a time when I felt that I had no control over any aspect of my illness. I now feel I’m an integral part of helping to inform legislators and the public about this disease.”

Jackson Parkhurst has a different take on being a Grassroots Champion, commenting, “I hate to think that I’m one of the top advocates. I wish there were hundreds doing more than I.”

These advocates have sent more than 50 messages using the CFIDS Association’s Grassroots Action Center:

June Barbosa, Port Richey, FL
Leah Boven, Kalamazoo, MI 
Elly Brosius, Centreville, VA
Alyson Butcher, Houston, TX
Patricia Conboy, Plano, TX
Karen Davidson, Nottingham, MA
Anna de la Motte, Woodside, CA
Lisa Espiritu, San Diego, CA
Theresa Fitzgerald, Wall, NJ
Suzanne Glaser, Brooklyn, NY
Nancy Henson, Charlotte, NC
Paul Hueber, Altamonte Springs, FL
Debra Jones, Indianapolis, IN
Lisa La Rosa, Methuen, MA
Teresa Lombardi, West Babylon, NY
Joyce Moncelle Kaye, Bloomington, IL
Jane Mostowitz, Houston, TX
Jackson Parkhurst, Brevard, NC
Mark Peterson, DDS, Chesapeake, VA
Cindee Rice, Scottsdale, AZ
Amanda Rinkel, Puyallup, WA
Carol Sieverling, Euless, TX
Laura Smith, Greensboro, NC
Pat Sonnet, Miami, FL
Sheila Stevens, West Miami, FL
Jean Sucec, Columbus, OH
Jenny Thompson, Conneaut Lake, PA
Robert Tinianov, Miami, FL
John Trussler, Grants Pass, OR
RF Vasquez, Fillmore, CA
Patrick Venetucci, Park Ridge, IL
Toby Vokal, Grand Haven, MI
Peggy Walk, Florham Park, NJ
Kellyann Wargo, Carrollton, TX
Claudia Wendlandt, Kennesaw, GA
Katherine Winkert, RN, Casanovia, NY
Faith Wong, Ogden, UT
Plus others who wish to remain anonymous.

Congratulations to all our Grassroots Champions, and thank you to everyone who has used the Grassroots Action Center to make your voice heard with legislators, the media and health policy leaders.

If you have Internet access but haven’t signed up to receive the GAC’s Action Alerts, give it a try at http://capwiz.com/cfids/home. Whether you send one message or 100, you’ll be helping create change. And maybe next year you’ll be a Grassroots Champion, too.

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The CFIDS Association fights for the rights of people with CFS and their families by advocating for more research and better public policy. Your donations make this work possible.

If you care about making CFS a national priority with lawmakers and health officials, donate now.