Testimonials
Your
contributions to CFC make a world of difference. Everyone can use a
little help sometimes. Donating to CFC provides support to many of your
favorite charities.
Below, read inspirational stories from local people whose lives have been touched by CFC recipient organizations.
Diane L. Repasky
News you can use from close to home.
You may wonder where your contribution dollars are utilized when you donate to any of the many charitable organizations through the Combined Federal Campaign.
As many of you may we aware, I experienced a family emergency two weeks ago when my daughter, who lives in California, became very seriously ill. She was initially admitted to David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base California. When it was determined she would need a liver transplant she was transferred to Cal Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and placed on the transplant recipient list. Fortunately, her condition drastically improved over a period of 72 hours and she is making what we hope will be a full recovery, and will not require a transplant. Naturally due to the grave circumstances of her illness several family members, including myself, immediately traveled to be by her side.
The Fisher House Foundation gives families of wounded service men and women (my daughter is an Air Force Veteran and my son-in-law is active duty Air Force) who are visiting loved ones at military hospitals a place to stay without charge at a network of 30 homes around the world. The house provides living quarters including bedrooms with private bath, living room and dining room as well as a stocked kitchen. Volunteers take turns cooking meals and stocking the kitchen with pantry items. A computer with internet access is also provided. The Fisher House at Travis Air Force Base offered accommodations to five family members while my daughter was hospitalized at California Pacific Medical Center. My daughter and son-in-law live in Sacramento and because she was transferred to Cal Pacific in San Francisco, the commute to the hospital would have been over 1 ½ hours each way. Our family is extremely grateful the Fisher House was available to us in our time of crisis. It saved many hours of traveling time for family members, particularly my son-in-law who ferried family members to and from the hospital and returned to stay with my daughter during the night.
The Fisher House is listed as a CFC 2007 organization. So what I am sharing with all of you is: we never know when we might be on the recipient end of any of the many CFC charitable organizations.
Cheryl Woods-Moss, manager with the United States Postal Service
I give my CFC donation to the National Parkinson Foundation which works to find the causes and cure for Parkinson’s disease. My experience with this disease goes back to my grandfather. He contracted Parkinson’s a few years before I was born. Even so, he still managed to dote on us throughout his life. However, while watching him and the struggles and pains he endured, I was determined that when I grew up, I would become a doctor and find a cure for Parkinson’s. I wanted to find a cure so that my grandfather could enjoy a healthy pain-free life. Unfortunately, he passed away before I could even attempt that goal. That is why every year, I give to the National Parkinson Foundation, through the CFC, so that I can still help them one day find a cure and help someone’s grandfather."
Trish Gonzales of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)
I welcome this opportunity to share my experience with a CFC agency. After picking up my 4 1/2 year old son from the sitter one night, I felt his head and noticed some dry skin in patches on the left side of his skull. It looked like cradle cap with the scalp dry and flaking. Our pediatrician thought it could be a fungus and prescribed an anti-fungal shampoo. Four weeks later the dryness had turned into large patches with sores, and the skin was peeling off in larger areas. The discoloration became more and more noticeable. Joey would be embarrassed and often lower his head ashamed. I remember the day when I was giving him a bath, and I saw the indentation in his forehead, the shape of his skull, the off centering of his looks, his eyes weren't lined up, his nostrils weren't the same size. The pediatrician referred us to a dermatologist, who examined Joey and listened to my story. He retrieved a book and stated that it would be better if I read what he believed Joey to have:
'Scleroderma is a connective tissue disease involving the skin, blood vessels and the immune system.
Scleroderma means "hard Skin". An auto immune disease where the body acts as if it has been injured in an area
and will try to heal the injury by processing collagen scar tissue, which then causes tightening skin, atrophy and
deformity. The damage is irreversible.'
I became ill right there in the doctor's while viewing the pictures in the book. The doctor explained that Joey's type of the disease was even rarer, because he appeared to have 'en coup de saber', which is French for 'the strike of the sword' and projects a situation where his body was trying to heal from a battle wound that never occurred. The doctor explained that in his 25 years of practice he had only seen this one other time.
After aggressively searching the web for information, I found the 'Scleroderma Foundation' web site and the Juvenile Scleroderma Network web site through which I was able to identify Joey's symptoms. The Scleroderma Foundation is raising funds not only to find a cure and develop treatment plans but also to educate, because the early stages of scleroderma are so often misdiagnosed.
Because four out of the five senses are in the path of this disease, hearing, sight, taste and smell, I contacted a Rheumatologist, an Optometrist, ENT, Audiologist, and Neurologist. The Rheumatologist recommended an experimental treatment that included a medication called Methotrexate, used to treat certain types of cancer or to control severe psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis. Despite risks to cell growth or his immune system, not using the medicines would risk further irreversible deformity. The medication made him sick and very tired for months. He missed several months of school, and I missed months at work. I was able to get support from The Scleroderma Foundation. The foundation has support groups throughout the nation and several here in Ohio. I met some extraordinary people. I saw things differently the day after I met the group. The group was warm and friendly, and they discussed new developments and shared stories.
Scleroderma is the third most fatal and deforming medical condition in our country. It has two different forms: systemic and localized. The systemic forms can affect any part of the body (skin, blood vessels, and internal organs) and can be fatal. The localized forms affect only the skin (and sometimes the underlying tissues), but do not affect the internal organs or reduce one's life expectancy.
In many cases Juvenile Scleroderma recesses by the on set of puberty. We are hoping that Joey will be one of those cases as he starts his journey to becoming a man. We encourage continued support for the Scleroderma Foundation and the Juvenile Scleroderma Network because of their support, information sharing, and focus on finding a cure for children like my Joey.