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Your Fundraising Impact

Every one of the more than 100,000 Canadians living with Parkinson’s, along with all of their  families and friends, will each be a bit better off because of your Life List Challenge. Every donation you land, every dare you post, every cheer you hear, will make a difference to their lives.

Parkinson Canada proudly works towards a better life with a brighter future for Canadians living with Parkinson’s today; a world without Parkinson’s tomorrow.

Your Life Lists Challenge fundraising will provide help and hope to people with Parkinson’s in four ways.

Research

Life Lists participants and donors are research catalysts. Raising $1,000 is a great achievement and will help you live your dream. It also provides catalytic funding to Parkinson’s researchers working on new treatments, improving the quality of life for patients or trying to unravel the mysterious causes of the disease all efforts towards a cure.

A Parkinson Canada National Research Program pilot project grant typically consists of $45,000 of annual funding. Just $856 funds the equivalent of one week of a researcher’s work Often our Parkinson Canada funded researchers can leverage their pilot project results  to secure  greater levels of funding from other funders, such as government agencies.  For every $45,000 grant you and your Life List Challenge peers help to fund, there is the possibility that your researcher will secure up to $2,000,000 in new research dollars.

Here are some examples of recent leverage funding success of our researchers:

Your support truly makes a difference, and Parkinson Canada funded researchers want to make sure you know. In fact, they’ve sent a few thank you messages your way.

Support

Parkinson Canada provides invaluable helping hands and resources to people with Parkinson’s. Support groups, coordinated by staff and volunteers, meet in communities  throughout Canada, connecting people with peer support, information and resources. More than anything, these groups affirm for people that they are not alone with a condition that can otherwise be isolating.
Here’s what  Heather Sinclair of Port Hope, says about the value of support groups:

“Upon diagnosis I was welcomed into a new world - the Parkinson Community. And what a Community it is! The symbiotic relationship between Parkinson Canada, its support groups, and their members represents a true community. For I know full well that whatever I experience, the [Parkinson Canada] family will be right behind me with all the support and help they can muster... it is so reassuring to know that they are there.”

Education

Education is a core priority when armed with accurate information and knowledge it enables individuals to advocate for themselves and make informed decisions about their medical care, which improves quality of life for Canadians living with Parkinson’s disease.

Efforts are focused in two areas:

• Public Education:  empowering Canadians with Parkinson’s and their caregivers to make informed decisions regarding treatment and care by providing a wide range of educational resources online, in print, and through informational webinars or workshops.
• Professional Education: supporting healthcare professionals in their clinical practices by providing specialized resources and continuing education opportunities to improve the support, care and management of people living with Parkinson’s. A specialized website for healthcare professionals provides access to content and up to date information and resources validated by leading Parkinson’s experts in Canada.

Each year, new professional education opportunities are offered by Parkinson Canada through our online webinars and specialized workshops at conferences, which train healthcare professionals to use the Canadian Guidelines on Parkinson’s disease which Parkinson Canada facilitated the development of to improve the standard of care and access of care for individuals with Parkinson’s. The guidelines also provide health care professionals a clear understanding on how to best manage the disease. With increased knowledge about Parkinson’s physicians can make early referrals to specialists.

Lunch time chats with Sandie - Our resident nurse and Coordinator of Client Services & Education, Sandie Jones, hosts lunchtime chats every month over the telephone on a variety of important Parkinson’s topics. People living with Parkinson’s and their care partners sign up to participate in these informative conversations via  computer or simply call in to the toll-free telephone conference line. A RN with 17 years of experience working directly with clients with Parkinson’s, Sandie talks about everything her audience wants  to know about living well with the disease. By connecting anyone interested, including those in remote areas,  individuals are able to talk to Sandie Jones from  the comfort of their own homes.

Advocacy

Improving the lives of Canadians living with Parkinson’s is a constant motivator guiding Parkinson Canada’s advocacy efforts. Our advocacy efforts are geared toward ensuring access to timely and effective therapies.

Each day with your support we are working to drive policy changes on important issues like:

• ensuring timely access to affordable and effective therapies and health services;
• providing support for caregivers through education and access to respite care;
• protecting Canadians from genetic discrimination by employers and/or the insurance industry;
• protecting people affected by Parkinson’s from poverty;
• increasing funding for research to accelerate and target investment in neuroscience and Parkinson’s research in order to improve treatments and help find a cure.

We can’t do it alone. We actively work with volunteers, national healthcare organizations, coalitions and global partners.  Together we ensure the interests of the Parkinson’s community are represented as a public policy priority to governments across Canada.