Joining us today is Laurel Grimm Senior Manager, Fundraising Campaigns & Volunteer Engagement Along with Jennifer O’Connor who is our Regional Director for the Northwest Chapter and a Take Steps team captain. She’s been a captain and IBD patient for over 20 years!
Take Steps is the annual fundraising walk for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. One thing that’s unique about our organization is that so many patients involved struggle with sharing their diagnosis/experiences with others. There’s a lot of privacy, secrecy, and stigma surrounding Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (“bathroom diseases”). Take Steps is an awesome community event in part because it’s a chance for patients and caregivers to be open about their experiences and hear stories from others. This event supports our research efforts into improved treatments and eventually a cure. Currently, Crohn’s & colitis are chronic, untreatable conditions that can lead to severe complications and surgery for many patients over the course of their life.
https://online.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/site/TR/Events/General?team_id=220305&pg=team&fr_id=9923
https://online.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/site/TR/TakeSteps/General?fr_id=9923&pg=entry