Go to www.lupus.org
order yours today.  I did but you have to order 25 plus at one time, not
just 1 bracelet.

Sell them and promote lupus awareness people

Subject: Olympic Gold Medalist Helps Launch Official Lupus Wristband

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST KERRI STRUG REACHES OUT TO YOUNG

ATHLETES WITH LIFE-THREATENING LUPUS

Two Girls, 11 and 13, Inspire Official National Lupus Wristband to Increase
Awareness of a Disease Affecting 1.5 Million Americans

Official Lupus Awareness Purple Wristband Available from Lupus Foundation
of America Chapters and LFA Website Store at www.lupus.org.

(Washington, DC/December 20) - It was their love of sports and athletic
competition that bonded the friendship between two young female athletes
ages 11 and 13.  However, it was the autoimmune disease lupus that brought
Aiden Gallagher and Una-Marie Antczak together to become advocates with
Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Strug for greater understanding of the disease,
and to launch a national effort to raise awareness of lupus.

While undergoing treatment for lupus, which causes inflammation and tissue
damage to various parts of the body, Aiden and Una-Marie made a pact to do
whatever they could to educate the public about the potentially devastating
health effects of this chronic disease.  The girls decided the best way to
accomplish their goal was to distribute wristbands to tell people "someone
you know has lupus."  Approximately 1.5 million Americans, mostly women,
have a form of the disease.

They contacted the Lupus Foundation of America about their goal to
distribute wristbands to their friends and classmates and begin what the
girls hope will become a national movement to boost visibility for a
disease that has not received much attention.  Their efforts immediately
captured the attention of Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Strug, who serves as
a national sports celebrity for the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA).

Inspired by the girls' determination and endurance, Kerri Strug wanted to
encourage the girls to believe in their goal, just as she did to overcome a
painful injury and help her gymnastics team capture the Olympic gold medal
during the 1996 Atlanta games.  On December 16, at the Hospital for Special
Surgery, Aiden and Una-Marie presented Kerri with the first lupus awareness
wristband.

Una-Marie and Aiden share a love of athletics.  Una-Marie is an avid figure
skater and Aiden plays softball, soccer and rides horses.  Due to
lupus-related fatigue and joint pain, and the side effects of the medicines
they must take to combat the disease, both girls have had to forego many of
their competitive athletic endeavors for the time being.  However, in the
minds of others with lupus, the girls already are gold medal champions.

Ironically, while the girls had never met before they were diagnosed with
lupus, their mothers were friends for many years.  Neither mother, however,
was aware that they each had a child with lupus until Aiden's mother
learned from another family member that her friend's daughter was very ill.
Now the two mothers support each other as their children receive identical
treatment protocols to manage the disease, which includes cyclophosphamide
and rituximab, two drugs also used to treat cancer.

Lupus is not as common in children as it is in adults.  However, people
with lupus in this age group often are required to begin aggressive therapy
soon after diagnosis, according to the girls' pediatric rheumatologist, Dr.
Thomas J. A. Lehman, Chief of Pediatric Rheumatology at the Hospital for
Special Surgery.  Dr. Lehman also is a member of the Lupus Foundation of
America Medical/Scientific Advisory Council.

Aiden, of Poughkeepsie, New York, and Una-Marie, of Bayonne, New Jersey,
plan to distribute the purple wristbands at their respective schools to
increase awareness and raise funds to support lupus research, education,
and services of the Lupus Foundation of America.  Purple is the official
color of the LFA, the nation's leading nonprofit voluntary health
organization dedicated to finding the causes and cure for lupus.

Wristbands also will be distributed though the Lupus Foundation of America's
national network of 250 chapters, branches and support groups, as well as
through the LFA's website store at www.lupus.org.  For more information
about lupus and a list of local LFA chapters, visit the LFA website or call
1-888-38-LUPUS.

Photo Caption:  Olympic Gold medalist Kerri Strug (second from the left)
helped the Lupus Foundation of America introduce the official lupus
awareness purple wristband.  Joining Kerri was (L-R) Thomas J. A. Lehman,
M.D., Chief of Pediatric Rheumatology at New York City's Hospital for
Special Surgery, and Una-Marie Antczak and Aiden Gallagher, two young girls
with lupus.  (Photo by Paul Schneck)

# # #

About the Lupus Foundation of America:  The LFA mission is to improve the
diagnosis and treatment of lupus, support individuals and families affected
by the disease, increase awareness of lupus among health professionals and
the public, and find the causes and cure.   Research, education and patient
services are at the heart of LFA's programs.

Disclaimer and Instructions on How to Unsubscribe:

This message was sent by the Lupus Foundation of American national office,
2000 L Street, N.W. Suite 710, Washington, DC 20036.  This message was sent
to all individuals who requested to be on our website e-mail list,
subscribed to our e-advocates newsletter, sent messages through our
advocacy website, made a donation to our organization, or participated in
one or more conferences or events conducted by or sponsored by the LFA. The
LFA does not rent or share e-mail addresses with other organizations.

To unsubscribe to our e-mail list, forward this message to info@lupus.org
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE or REMOVE in the subject line.  If you have
multiple e-mail addresses registered with us, please forward each message
that you receive.   In some cases, this message may have been forwarded to
you by another individual.  In this situation, please contact the person
who forwarded this message to you and request that they remove your e-mail
address from their address book.