Joseph Stewart

Hello!! Thanks again for taking the time to consider Great Strides as a charitable donation. The support our team receives from each of you, year after year is amazing! Thank you in advance for continuing the fight to Cure CF.

This year Great Strides in Lexington is  scheduled for May 18th, 2024, and it will be at the Kentucky Horse Park, Alltech Arena once again! If you were able to make it last year then you know how beautiful the scenery is while walking for a cure.

Below is some of the general information about CF and the walk but I wanted to give you an update on our girl and our CF year.

This past year Leanna and myself went to our second Volunteer Leadership Conference for the CF Foundation. The event was in Denver, Colorado. This was an amazing event with CF volunteers from all over the country along with the top leaders of the Foundation coming together to generate more ideas on how to make CF stand for Cure Found. Leanna and I are continuing our work with honored the National Leadership Council and will be attending our third VLC this March back in Washington, D.C.  This will be right after we attend March on the Hill again to fight for the Pasteur Act to find additional antibiotics for the CF community.

 If anyone would like to know more about Teen Advocacy Day in the summer just contact me and we will get you on your way.

Laynee is now a sophomore in college and has decided to pursue surgical tech through BCTC. As far as her health, this has been a very good year for her CF issues. Laynee transitioned from pediatric care to adult care when she went to college. While she was very lucky to have great pediatric care center at UofL Hospital with extremely gifted doctors, our girl now lives in Lexington and is at the adult care center with Dr. Anstead. Laynee has really enjoyed the new clinic and has found her voice with respect to her disease. Our Laynee never really complains but we can tell it takes a toll on her.

Our girl is a trooper and never complains about all this medical treatment but I can tell you it is no fun for anyone. And our Laynee is a lot healthier than many kids with CF so we consider ourselves lucky in that respect. Some of the parents we have met at our events have CF kids with medical bills in excess of $30,000.00 per month. All money raised by Great Strides goes directly to research for medications that may eliminate the need for patients to take multiple medicines each day and instead just take one.

Please join us on May 18th and walk with Laynee and her family/friends and other CF families to help make CF stand for Cure Found!!There are approximately 40,000 Americans living with cystic fibrosis. They are moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, friends and co-workers who struggle every day just to breathe. I walk for them and hope you will support me in my efforts.

Real progress has been made in the search for a cure, but the lives of people with CF are still cut far too short. There still is no cure for this devastating disease. By walking today, I am helping add tomorrows to the lives of people living with cystic fibrosis. Will you join me? Support me by making a donation to my Great Strides fundraising campaign today!

Great Strides is a fun, family-friendly event that raises awareness and support for people with CF and their families.

Please support me!

Help me reach my fundraising goal by donating to my Great Strides fundraising campaign. Your gift will help add tomorrows to the lives of people with cystic fibrosis by supporting life-saving research and medical progress. Your gift is 100-percent tax deductible.