People living with Parkinson’s disease, along with their families and caregivers, live with the impact of this disease 365 days a year. So while the Parkinson’s Unity Walk is in April, fundraising takes place all year round. So does the research we support.

This year, with your help, over $1.5M was raised for Parkinson’s research. Progress has been made but there is still much more that needs to be done to find the cause and cure for this debilitating neurological disease. Your donation can get us closer to a cure.

Give now before December 31st! You have two weeks to make your secure online donation and receive the tax benefit for 2011. 100% of your donation goes to research. You can:

* Sponsor a walker

* Make a donation in honor or memory of a loved one

Consistent with the word “unity” in our name, the Parkinson’s Unity Walk brings our community together to raise awareness and funds for research, and distributes the money YOU donate among the seven major Parkinson’s organizations in the US.

Thank you for your continued support and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season.

Helaine Isaacs
PUW Event Director

We are eagerly waiting for confirmation of the Unity Walk date from the NYC Parks Department and call our contact there every day to see if he has any news for us. We had hoped we would have received the date already and should get word any time now. We know from the calls coming into our office that many of you are also interested in marking that date on your calendar. We promise to let you know as soon as we hear back about the date.

We are lucky that our event is “grandfathered” in Central Park; new fundraising walks are not even allowed to apply for a permit. We need to work within the Parks Department’s process for arranging their calendar.

We are grateful to the enthusiastic support of our participants. Please sit tight and we expect we’ll be sharing the date with you soon.

Helaine Isaacs
PUW Event Director

The staff at the Parkinson’s Unity Walk has much to be grateful for and we know we still have a lot of work to do. We are thankful for your support of the Unity Walk and for allowing us to be part of such a committed and dedicated community. As we gather this holiday with family and friends, we wish you many reasons to be grateful.

All the best,
The PUW Staff

The money YOU raised on behalf of the Parkinson’s Unity Walk is funding important Parkinson’s research.

At a recent PUW Board meeting, we heard from two top Parkinson’s researchers in the US who are also PUW Board members – Dr. Bill Langston of the Parkinson’s Institute and Dr. Bob Burke of the Udall Center at Columbia. They summarized the research grants that are being supported by the 2011 PUW funds. They brought the research to life by explaining the importance of each study and how it relates to other current research. After the presentation, one of our Board members, who has Parkinson’s disease said this was the most hopeful he’s felt in years.

Want to learn more? Check out the grant proposals from each of the Parkinson’s foundations that benefit from the Unity Walk. Click on Archives if you are interested in reading the updates on the research grants that were awarded by PUW over the past two years.

We couldn’t have funded this research without your support – THANK YOU!

I attended the APDA Young Onset Conference recently in Providence, RI. If you weren’t able to be there in person, you can now check out the live webcast with presentations on:
- Impulse Control Disorders and Other Brain-Related Behaviors
- Recent Developments in the Genetics of Parkinson’s Disease
- Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): Understanding the Process
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS): What to Expect Before Surgery and After
- Beyond the Mask of Parkinson’s: Strategies for Overcoming Communication Challenges

Click here for more information about the APDA National Young Onset Center.

Hold a fundraising concert in a jewelry store? That’s exactly what Team Cantore did when Jeffrey Steele performed at LeeBrant Jewelers in Atlanta recently. With sponsors covering expenses, over $50,000 was raised in one night for Parkinson’s research. Over $16,000 was raised from the silent auction alone!

All events – large and small – help move us closer to our goal of finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease. Hope this gets your creative juices flowing and energizes you to come up with your own fundraiser – one that works for you and your team.

Donors from 23 countries throughout the world contributed to the total of $1.5M raised at the 2011 Unity Walk. In keeping with this global trend, representatives from the European Parkinson’s Disease Association crossed the Atlantic to attend the Unity Walk this past April and speak with representatives from several US Parkinson’s organizations. Check out pages 16-18 of the EPDA Plus Autumn 2011 edition (Issue 17) to read an article about the Parkinson’s Unity Walk and The Parkinson Alliance. Click here to read it in English (after you click on the image to download) but because it’s the EPDA, you also have the option of reading it in French, German, Italian and Spanish.

I attended the Northeast Young Onset Parkinson Conference sponsored by APDA and NPF that was held in Providence, RI on Friday and Saturday, October 21st and 22nd. The program was well attended and informative covering a wide variety of topics including but not limited to genetics, impulse control disorders, communication challenges, deep brain stimulation, and yoga and dance for Parkinson’s. I had a chance to speak with a number of friends of the Unity Walk from New England (a special shout out to Mary Ellen Thibodeau, Gail and Mike Achin, and Michael O’Connor) and met many new folks who expressed interest in attending the Walk. Missed the conference? Several of the sessions were webcast and will be on the NPF and APDA websites within 7-10 days. Check back then!

Team Ryan’s Hope is the Unity Walk’s Shining Star for October. John Ryan, Team Captain was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in January 2011. According to John, “I had to become an active advocate for Parkinson’s disease and the Unity Walk gave me my voice to speak about a cause that not only impacts me but millions of others who may not be as able to.” 2011 was Team Ryan’s Hope’s first year at the Unity Walk. They raised $16,050 and were the twelfth highest fundraising team for the Walk.

The Unity Walk is comprised of hundreds of teams like Team Ryan’s Hope. Click here to register and create or join a team. There is strength in numbers so please join us and take action as we work together to raise funds to find the cause and cure for Parkinson’s disease.

Here we are in the middle of October and the leaves are just starting to turn. It’s hard to picture that in just over six months from now, we will be gathering together in New York’s Central Park for the 18th Parkinson’s Unity Walk.

We are regularly in touch with the Parks Department and expect to receive confirmation of the Unity Walk date by late November. We are hoping that the Walk will be one of the last two Saturdays in April 2012 and will let you know as soon as we receive the date.

If you haven’t already done so, please register for the 2012 Walk now so you can create your personal and/or team donation pages and prepare a list with your email addresses, and you’ll be ready to start your fundraising once we know the date. For you early birds who have already registered, log into “My HQ” to customize your page, set your fundraising goal and prepare your email lists. If you’ve donated to the Unity Walk in the past because you care about someone with Parkinson’s disease, please register for the Walk and join us in Central Park.

We’ll keep you posted about the date for the Unity Walk and look forward to seeing you in April!

PUW Staff