January 2014
Newsletter
Events, Happenings,
and News in the
Utah P2P JA Family Network
THANK YOU!
We wanted to
give a big “Thank you” for all of you that helped and/or participated in the
annual Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis.
Thanks to everyone, it was our most successful event to date! Here are some highlights...
1. In 2013 we
raised $35,151!!!!
2. The money
raised at this event will go to funding vital research for arthritis treatment
as well as programs such as our annual JA Family Day and exercise programs that
help patients lead healthier, more active lives
3. We had close
to 300 participants, 75 volunteers and about 100 entertainers who all came to
help this event be a huge success!
4. We had fun
activities for kids, great vendors as well as a ‘Jingle Bell Boutique’, fun
auction and raffle prizes, fabulous sponsors, a visit from Santa Claus and
amazing honorees!
For a more
detailed wrap up of the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis,
please see
Meghan’s ‘Blurb’!
A GLIMPSE
Of what is on our agenda
To keep you connected in 2014!
·
February/March – Zone Event
·
April – Quarterly Newsletter
·
May – Arthritis Walk
·
July – JA National Conference/Quarterly Newsletter
·
August – Zone Event
·
September/October – JA Family Day/Quarterly
Newsletter
·
December – Jingle Bell Run
Committee
Members Needed!
If you would like to
get involved with The Arthritis Foundation or if you are looking for a chance
to volunteer – we have a spot for you!
Please consider joining our “Walk to Cure Arthritis” planning committee.
Meet great people, have a voice in our event, and help us fundraise for a
cure! Contact Alison Tuft for more
information at 801-536-0990 or email her at atuft@arthritis.org
Don’t
forget to ‘like’ our Facebook page for the Utah Parent 2 Parent Peer 2 Peer JA
Family Network!
*BLURBS*
From the P2P Leaders and Zone Leaders…
A word from Meghan…
Wow, what a year 2013
ended up being! I had the privilege of wrapping up my year seeing the Jingle
Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis become a huge success! As a project that I had been
working on for over a year, I was pleased to see the hard work of my dedicated
committee come to fruition in the form of an amazing event! Despite the cold
weather and snow falling that morning, we had an amazing turn out at the Grand
Hall at the Gateway. We had a wonderful venue that offered a festive and fun
environment as well as warmth from the elements before and after the 5K run and
1K kids run. I want to give a shout to my amazing committee who came from both
the JA community and those who have no connection to Arthritis at all who just
want to make things easier for ‘our’ community! A huge thank you to April Bays,
Annie Viola and Jody Heaton who were instrumental in helping make this event such
a success! For the first year, we had
three honorees. In the past we’ve had 1 honoree, but we were pleased to have a
youth honoree, a medical honoree and community honoree. These honorees were
Alissa Bays-an adorable 2 year old who is successfully winning her battle with
JIA, Dr. Paul Wirkus-a local pediatrician who has a special knowledge and
connection to JA, and Kim Johnson-ABC4 new anchor who also served as our emcee.
Each one of these honorees had a unique story to tell and we were pleased to
have them involved! Where would we have been without our amazing sponsors? All
of these local companies were an integral part of the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for
Arthritis! The following companies were hugely supportive of this fun event:
Wasatch Pediatrics, Zion’s Bank, Crio Bru, Farris Gerard Photography, ABC 4
News, CW 30 and Slug Magazine. And of course, the big man up north, Santa
Clause, made his way to Salt Lake City to spend time with all the kids and the
young at heart! We are looking forward to beginning the process of planning the
2013 Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis. We will be solidifying the date in the
next month (yes, we are already thinking about the holiday season), so be on
the lookout for more information coming soon!
A word from Annie…
Happy New Year! I am so excited to see how much closer we can
get this year to finding a cure for arthritis!
We have so many exciting events coming up and opportunities to connect
with other JA families. Please continue
being a voice for JA and spread the word about our network so that no family
has to deal with this disease alone. Let’s
start this year with a question: Ask yourself if you or anyone in your family
would like to volunteer for the Arthritis Foundation. This is such a great way to get to know the
people behind the name, connect with other families, and find support. I have been so blessed through volunteering. Not only has it strengthened my support
system, but it has allowed me to encourage and serve others. I am so privileged to be a part of such an
amazing network of people whose lives have been affected by arthritis. Let me know how I can help you! If there is something that you would like to
see from this network, or any ideas on how to connect with other families,
please feel free to share them. I am
here ready to listen, ready to take action, and ready to tackle the everyday
struggles with you! One of our biggest goals this year with our network is to
get families together. We really want
you to get to know other families in your area. Your zone leaders will be
reaching out to you and inviting you to zone events and we will keep you in the
loop of all events sponsored by the Arthritis Foundation. Please try and be a part of these events to
reach out to other JA families and network with us. Each of you has something to offer, whether
it be friendship, support, or just another family who can share experiences of “I
have been there, and done that.” Let’s be reminded of what the mission of our
network is, “to build a
support system by providing opportunities for parents, kids, and teens to
connect while navigating the world with a rheumatic disease.”
So
let’s JOURNEY TOGETHER and make 2014 a year of encouragement, support,
and connection!!!
A word from April in the North…
The first Northern Zone get together
is planned for February 22nd at 2 p.m. and will be at the Ogden
George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park/Museum. This has a little something for all
ages—an indoor museum where there are fossils, bones, and displays to look at,
including some animated replicas, a kid’s quarry, and then outside are life
sized dinosaurs, trails, and a playground too. There are several picnic tables
around if anyone wants to bring food, they do allow it! Please bring the whole
family and let’s get to know one another on our first adventure! Each family
will be responsible for their own admission, but if enough RSVP we will get a
group discount. Watch for an invite in your email soon!
A word from us (Meghan and Annie) in SLC…
We would love to get to know every
family here in SLC and all the families in the Provo area. Please join us in attending the first get-together
of 2014. This event will be held at Fat
Cats at 3739 S and 900 E in SLC on Saturday, February 22nd from
11am until 1pm. Bring the whole family
to bowl, eat snacks, play arcade games, and connect with other JA families. Please RSVP at leaders.janetwork@gmail.com and state the total of how many will be bowling
and the children’s ages so we can put children of the same ages together. The prices are $4.49 per game for adults and
$3.89 for children. Shoe rentals are
$2.99/2.49. Also don’t forget your
quarters for the arcade! We will reserve
the lanes and you bring your family! Contact
us with questions. Can’t wait to see
everyone there!!!
A word from Sarah in the South…
As a Southern woman, I love that
title. Happy New Year to all our
families, I can’t believe it’s 2014 already.
I feel like I haven’t seen you in quite some time. We recently visited with many of our families
at this year’s Jingle Bell Run that was before Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to gathering all our
families together on Feb 22nd for an open house here in
Hurricane. I have currently been
working on getting all of Chris’s files transferred to his new Rheumatologist
in Las Vegas. We will keep everyone
updated on how it goes and what our thoughts are on the staff in Nevada. We wish all of our families’ good health and
many blessings in the coming year. I
just can’t wait to see everyone again.
Sarah
Zone
Leader Needed!!!
If you live
in the Provo area (or surrounding area) and are interested in being a zone
leader, please contact us at leaders.janetwork@gmail.com
Meet
Chris Cloud!
Hi my name is
Chris Cloud and I am 16 years old. I
have Entheistis Related Arthritis/Poly JIA.
I live down here in beautiful Southern Utah in Hurricane, just outside
Zion National Park. I love hiking and
being outdoors in the canyons, unfortunately I can’t be out much. Hiking has become an issue due to my JA. I am just finishing up my Eagle Board of
Review and am now considered an Eagle Scout Elect. I am still active in my local JROTC unit here
at Dixie High. I am a Staff Sergeant and hoping to rank up at the end of the
month.
A word to all my fellow kids and Teens with
JA……Don’t let it stop you from achieving your goals. You can still do it! You may need to find a different approach to
what you want but it is possible. I just
got my Eagle when very few thought I would make it. Don’t give up!
Here are some
things about me:
Things
I like to do: Play video games, hang out
with friends
My
Favorite subject in school: Math
My
favorite food: Pizza
My
favorite animal: Monkey
My
favorite movie: Transformers Dark of the moon
My
favorite game: Skyrim
What
I want to accomplish in life: be a graphic designer and video game designer
I
have arthritis but… I still do scouts, ROTC, and other things.
Things
I do to help me feel better when my joints hurt are… heat packs and rest.
One
last special thing about me is… I’m working on getting my driver’s license.
Registration is
now open!
The 2014
National JA Conference
When:
July 3 – 6
Where:
Keystone, Colorado
“The Juvenile
Arthritis Conference offers a chance to meet other families going through
similar challenges, share stories, learn new techniques for managing juvenile
arthritis, and have fun! The whole family is invited!” – Arthritis.org
~MARK
YOUR CALENDARS~
Walk
to Cure Arthritis
Sugar
House Park – May 17th
The Arthritis Foundation will be
hosting the annual ‘Walk to Cure Arthritis’ on May 17th. Mark your calendars, start forming your
teams, and get ready to be flabbergasted at some exciting changes to this
already amazing event! Please be watching for more information, fun contests,
monthly incentives, and how our network can be directly involved this year!!!
You are
not going to want to miss this!!!
