VAM Calendar
VAM 2024 Calendar Day-by-Day Activities
This Vasculitis Awareness Month (VAM), we’ve made it easy for you to get involved, make a difference, learn, and feel empowered! This interactive, day-by-day activities calendar offers simple yet meaningful ways to stay involved throughout May. Together, we can raise awareness of vasculitis and help pave a path toward a better life, better treatments, and a cure.
WEDNESDAY | MAY 01
Welcome to VAM!
Welcome to Vasculitis Awareness Month (VAM)! For the next 31 days, we’re honoring our amazing community of people living with the disease and their caregivers, dedicated healthcare professionals, and brilliant scientists. And we’re equipping you with the tools to spread awareness and get involved! Celebrate #VAM2024 with us all month long. And join us in sending a special shoutout to our partners, Amgen and GSK, who made this possible.
THURSDAY | MAY 02
Community Heroes
Getting a vasculitis diagnosis can send you and your family into the unknown. But that’s when people living with vasculitis tap into their superpowers of strength, hope, and resilience – and they get connected to the vasculitis community. Their stories inspire hope and help others feel less alone.
FRIDAY | MAY 03
Start a Facebook Fundraiser
Giving back is better with friends. For you, supporting the vasculitis community is personal. Rallying your family, friends, and colleagues to support the Vasculitis Foundation through a Facebook fundraiser has never been easier. We’ve got all the tools you need to start a Facebook fundraiser, including a step-by-step guide.
SATURDAY | MAY 04
What's Your Victory Over Vasculitis?
Inspire our community: share your victory over vasculitis! This is a personal goal or achievement you define for yourself that takes into account where you are in your vasculitis journey. Examples include, “My victory over vasculitis is having energy to spend time with my grandkids.” Or “My victory over vasculitis is running a 5K.” When you submit your Victory Over Vasculitis, we might feature it on social media!
SUNDAY | MAY 05
What’s Your Go-To Pick-Me-Up Song?
When vasculitis has you feeling down, what beat do you turn on to pick yourself up? We want to create a vasculitis playlist to inspire anyone in the trenches with this disease (this includes care partners!). Share your best pick-me-up song with us and we just might include it on our community-wide vasculitis playlist.
MONDAY | MAY 06
Together We Fuel the Future.
Together, we have supported, inspired, and empowered people with vasculitis. Together we can provide unparalleled support, drive critical research, better treatments and, ultimately, a cure. Your donation to the Vasculitis Foundation (VF) changes lives. Thank you for standing with the VF and investing in our mission.
TUESDAY | MAY 07
Share Your Story
Today, we’re inviting anyone living or loving someone with vasculitis to share your vasculitis story on social media to create a united, global impact. Vasculitis is a rare disease. So rare that it often gets misdiagnosed for months or even years. So rare that people impacted by it often feel isolated and alone on their journey. We need to bring light to this rare disease. Use this simple, easy-to-follow guide to write your story in just a few minutes. Then tag us on social media when you post your story. Use the hashtags #VAM2024 & #VasculitisLooksLikeMe
WEDNESDAY | MAY 08
Join us at a VF Regional Conference
Our 2024 Regional Conferences are one-day, in-person events packed full of engaging and informative presentations from local medical experts and people living with vasculitis. With six stops on the tour, the agenda will vary slightly by location. Whether you are newly diagnosed with vasculitis or have been navigating a vasculitis diagnosis for years, these events are for you. You will learn, engage, and be empowered.
THURSDAY | MAY 09
Sign Up: Vasculitis Voices & News
Stay in the loop—or invite family and friends to learn about vasculitis—by signing up for our monthly e-newsletter. The newsletter is packed with information you need to know about vasculitis, including community stories, upcoming events, resources, and more.
FRIDAY | MAY 10
Make Someone’s Day: Write a Letter
Connection nourishes and heals us. Today, write a letter (it can be a handwritten letter, email, greeting card, or text message) to someone. By letting them know you’re thinking of them, we can almost guarantee it’ll bring a smile to their face and yours! You can also learn more about the healing power and art of letter-writing in our recorded workshop with Elizabeth H. Cottrell, the author of the award-winning book Heartspoken: How to Write Notes that Connect, Comfort, Encourage, and Inspire.
SATURDAY | MAY 11
Virtual Vasculitis Support Group Meetings
You do not have to navigate your vasculitis journey alone. Connect with other people living with the disease and other care partners. Find strength in talking with other people who “get it.”
SUNDAY | MAY 12
Happy Mother’s Day!
As Gussie Blake embarked on her first cyclophosphamide treatments shortly after giving birth to her daughter, she was swirling in uncertainty and fear: she was scared of being a sick parent. “Will I be able to watch my kids grow up?” she wondered. “Will I even be able to have more children?” She hopes her story makes a difference, bringing awareness and offering support from one mom with vasculitis to another.
MONDAY | MAY 13
Show Your Vasculitis Stripes Around the Globe
Join us in making vasculitis visible all around the globe by sharing a photo of you in your hometown. EMAIL YOUR PHOTO & THE NAME OF YOUR TOWN/CITY to Ashley: [email protected].
TUESDAY | MAY 14
Record an Encouraging Message
When you’re in the thick of vasculitis, it can be hard to have hope or to see your way through. You can make a difference by sharing a 60-second video on your phone with a message of support and encouragement. Share how you get through your hardest days or how you’ve embraced new hobbies and adventures despite vasculitis. We’ll share our favorite videos with our community on social media.
WEDNESDAY | MAY 15
Triple Your Impact on International Vasculitis Day!
Vasculitis affects people all over the world. Today, on International Vasculitis Day, your donation will be tripled by a handful of anonymous donors up to $20,000! Today your donation will go 3 times as far! $10 becomes $30, $25 becomes $75 and $50 becomes $150 and so on until we reach $20,000!
THURSDAY | MAY 16
Aprendiendo de Vasculitis
La Fundación de Vasculitis (Vasculitis Foundation) se complace en presentar esta nueva serie de videos educativos para ampliar su conocimiento sobre vasculitis. Expertos médicos en vasculitis de distintos países conversaran sobre diferentes temas incluyendo el diagnóstico, medicamentos y tratamiento para de las vasculitis. Estos videos están dirigidos para pacientes y familiares, con la intención de informar e incrementar el conocimiento y conciencia de estas enfermedades.
FRIDAY | MAY 17
Get this Game-Changing Shirt
Ever wish you could easily educate people about vasculitis? Buy our vasculitis awareness-raising shirt! A donation is made to the VF for every shirt sold. While you’re eating at a restaurant, in the grocery store, or traveling at the airport, you can help people learn more about the disease simply by wearing it. Fashion has never been this powerful.
SATURDAY | MAY 18
Celebrate World Eosinophilic Diseases Day
Join us as we celebrate World Eosinophilic Diseases Week and raise awareness of these conditions around the globe.
SUNDAY | MAY 19
Let’s Dance!
Join Lisa Pritzl, the founder of Empowerment Dance, for this gentle, joyful recorded dance class that’s adaptable to any range of motion, no matter your mobility. This is a chance to get creative, strengthen your connection to your body, tap into the rhythm of the music, and just have fun.
MONDAY | MAY 20
Behçet’s Awareness Day & World Autoimmune Arthritis Day!
Learn about Behcet’s and help raise awareness of this form of vasculitis today. Download the following “5 Facts about Behcet’s” graphics and share them on your social media pages.
TUESDAY | MAY 21
Give the Gift of a Better Life
The VF is committed to early diagnosis, better treatments, and awareness. Your donation to the VF reinforces that commitment. With your help, the VF will fund $100,000 in new research this year alone! Donate today, knowing that every dollar improves the lives of people living with vasculitis.
WEDNESDAY | MAY 22
What to Eat, What to Avoid
Lucy De Matos, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist who has been living and thriving with vasculitis for 28 years, shares what foods to eat and which foods to avoid to help you live your healthiest life with vasculitis. Lucy has personal experience with this: she discusses how changing her diet and lifestyle, in combination with medication, has helped her on her own vasculitis journey.
THURSDAY | MAY 23
Join our Patient-Powered Research Network
You can make a difference by joining the Vasculitis Patient-Powered Research Network (VPPRN). The VPPRN is an international research network of people living with vasculitis, scientists, clinicians, advocates, and family members. They’re dedicated to improving healthcare and quality of life for people with vasculitis through high-level clinical research. It’s free to join and easy to participate. Your contribution is invaluable.
FRIDAY | MAY 24
Did you know...?
Vasculitis is a rare autoimmune disease, but experts suggest autoimmune diseases will be on the rise in the next decade. Download these “Did you know…” graphics and post them on your social media pages to separate fact from fiction and spread the word about what vasculitis is.
SATURDAY | MAY 25
Make a Difference Every Day
Did you know…making a monthly donation is simple for you and effective for the VF? $10 a month (which is less than a streaming service) makes a real impact and creates a sustainable base of support that the VF can count on. Set up your monthly donation today!
SUNDAY | MAY 26
Share the ACR/VF Fact Sheets with Your Doctor
Share these new patient-friendly facts sheets and treatment recommendations with your doctor! These fact sheets are based on the ACR/VF (American College of Rheumatology/Vasculitis Foundation) Guidelines, which were developed by a group of doctors and patients based on research studies. The goal? To help people living with the disease get the best care possible. One way you can help is by sharing the fact sheets with your primary care doctor. Anyone can do it!
MONDAY | MAY 27
Send Us a Photo of Your Pet
We can all use an extra dose of comforting love when we’re navigating a chronic illness. Do you have a pet who’s always by your side when you need it most? Send us a photo of your pet and we’ll share it on social media with our entire community—because pet photos are sure to make everyone smile. EMAIL YOUR PET’S NAME & PHOTO TO ASHLEY: [email protected]
WEDNESDAY | MAY 29
Create Your New Normal
Vasculitis can turn your world upside down. How do you create and embrace a “new normal” after diagnosis? In this inspiring video from our International Vasculitis Symposium, Sarah Jones, who’s living with vasculitis, shares details about her journey, telling how she faced her upside-down-world and found new ways of living in it.
THURSDAY | MAY 30
Celebrate a Loved One
Who in your life makes your vasculitis journey a little lighter by caring for you, navigating insurance and doctors appointments alongside you, making you laugh when you’re down, or cooking dinner when you’re tired? Whether it’s your partner, spouse, parent, adult child, or friend, we want to give them a shoutout! Tell us the best ways your loved one makes a difference in your life and we may share your response in a post recognizing the power and amazing support of the family and friends in our lives!
FRIDAY | MAY 31
Last Call: Give a Gift That Will Change Lives!
There is still time to support the incredible work of the VF by making a donation today. When you give, you empower patients with resources, knowledge, and connection. And you support the vital research of investigators seeking better treatments and a cure.
