ANGEL GALA TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON!
Please join us for our 7th Annual Angel Gala for SMA on Saturday November 10, 2012 at Glencairn Golf Club in Halton Hills, Ontario, CANADA. In the past six years, you have helped us to raise $500,000 for Spinal Muscular Atrophy research.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a neurological disease that is relatively unknown to the general public, yet it is a vital gateway towards curing some of the more well known neurological diseases. A cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy could help other diseases such as ALS, Muscular Dystrophy and Cystic Fibrosis.
SMA primarily affects children. The “A” in SMA stands for atrophy. Because the gene which provides the necessary protein to the motor neurons in the spine is missing, all of the body’s muscles begin to atrophy. Not only are the muscles responsible for walking, crawling, sitting up and holding one’s head up affected, so are the muscles which control swallowing, speaking and even breathing.
It is heart-breaking for parents to helplessly watch their children slowly lose strength and waste away. The constant daily care of an SMA child requires a great deal of medical intervention such as machines to breathe, machines to suction saliva (to prevent choking), machines to cough, feeding tubes and wheelchairs. Spinal Muscular Atrophy claims the lives of more children under the age of 2 than any other inherited disease.
Why is SMA so close to a treatment? Doctors discovered it is caused by a gene deletion. The target, the Survival Motor Neuron, is also known. What is missing from the equation is the funding.
100% of what we raise goes to Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Canada. FSMAC has funded research in an extremely efficient and streamlined manner. We are a grass-roots, volunteer organization comprised mainly of parents, relatives and friends of children suffering from SMA, that donates directly to research facilities.
There are several avenues of research which are showing great promise: Gene Replacement Therapy, Stem Cell Research and Drug Therapies
“For the first time since Polio in the late 1950′s, we as a society have a chance to cure a disease. A disease that is aggressive and attacks children at birth.”
To order tickets on-line for the 7th Annual Angel Gala for SMA, please go to the Purchase Tickets Tab above. Tickets will be available soon! To purchase tickets via cash or cheque, if you would like to donate an item to our Silent/Live Auction or if you would like to make a tax-deductible Cash Donation, please contact Theresa Van Fraassen at (519) 853-9718 or vanfraassen@cogeco.ca.
Remember to order tickets early because we have a SOLD OUT crowd of 250 guests every year!
Together we will find a cure for SMA.
ANGEL GALA FOR SMA EVENING ITINERARY
5:30 pm: Cocktail Reception- Featuring Music by Wayne MacDonald
Silent Auction Opens
6:30 pm: Master of Ceremonies Welcome- Dinner
8:00 pm: Video Presentation, Guest Speakers and Acknowledgements
8:30 pm: Live Auction, with Ray Veeneman
8:45 pm: Door Prize and Heads and Tails Raffle
9:00 pm: Dance
9:45 pm: Auction Tables Close
10:00-11:00 pm: Silent and Live Auction Cash Out
10:45 pm: Coffee Bar Opens
1:00 am: Bar Closes