National Lyme Disease Rally, Washington, DC, May 25

Please consider coming to Washington, DC for a rally on a public health crisis–Lyme Disease, the #1 fastest spreading infectious illness in the USA. MayDay is the time and place to urge out government and populace to ‘wake up’ to the hidden epidemic

ALL people of all ages, nationalities, regions can be infected by this tricky bacteria, transmitted by common ticks. Your support and presence is essential. See details below:

MAYDAY 2013!
SATURDAY, MAY 25th, 2013
FREEDOM PLAZA
10:30 AM – 2:30 PM
WASHINGTON, DC

Please plan on joining us this Memorial Day weekend at FREEDOM PLAZA in Washington, DC, to show your support for Lyme disease patients, friends and family, promote awareness and URGE CHANGES!

Why a Rally?

Lyme disease and related infections and complications negatively affect millions of lives everyday, yet the denial and ignorance surrounding our disease(s) is astounding. We continue to face far too many needless issues, including (but certainly not limited to) accurate testing, diagnosis/misdiagnoses, an uninformed and misinformed medical community, effective treatments, insurance company denials, obtaining disability, and the high costs of available treatments. The multitude of issues surrounding this highly politicized disease(s) is so vast that the rally is not focusing in on one particular issue for MAYDAY 2013. Pick one, Be sure to put those issues on your Rally signs for the world to see!

As in years’ past, this year’s MAYDAY Rally will help to promote awareness of Lyme disease, to continue to build camaraderie within the ever-growing community, and to keep the pressure on our elected officials and insurance companies to take action regarding their negligence.

What is THE most important aspect of any rally or protest?

PEOPLE, multitudes of us! LOTS! Droves! This Rally needs as many humans as possible to be the success that we all need it to be (Think MILLION HUMAN MARCH!). We need large numbers to effectively present our case not only before Congress and our President, but to the media and the world. There is nothing like a rally in front of the White House, in the heart of our nation’s capitol, to insure that the Lyme message is heard, loud and clear, and that the correct info (as opposed to all of the disinfo that we see daily) is made available!

Friday Evening, May 24th:

We will be gathering at the official event hotel, The Hilton Alexandria Mark Center (please see hotel info below), to meet and greet each other and create signs for the protest the following day. This does not mean that you can’t create your sign at home. Just remember that this National Park does not allow sticks, poles or any other type of holding device for our signs — only the paper signs themselves. Your sign should be what rings true to you, whether a cure, better diagnostic tests, better treatments, better physician education, removal of the flawed IDSA treatment guidelines, etc. You will be exercising YOUR right to protest about YOUR specific issues!

Sign Design Tips:
-Use fewer words so that you can make the font size of your letters/words/images larger and thicker. Trying to cram too much info onto a sign makes for poor visibility from afar. If someone needs to stand a foot or less away from a protest sign to understand it, then you may need to rethink your message strategy.

– Bold colors and contrasting colors stand out more and have a much higher visibility than soft pastels or light, pale colors. GO BIG & BOLD for MAXIMUM IMPACT!

AND BE SURE TO GO GREEN! Even if you cannot afford to purchase an official MAYDAY 2013 t-shirt, please wear your fave green t-shirt so that we will have the highest visibility and impact possible! Also, rain or shine, please bring along a green umbrella to help as a shield from rain or sun, and so that, when used in unison, we make a unique, colorful impact!

Saturday Morning, May 25th

Pre-10:00 AM: Please feel free to get up early and lend a hand with whatever needs to be done prior to the event’s opening time.

MAYDAY 2013 GUEST SPEAKER SCHEDULE 

 

10:00-10:20:

Opening Remarks by Josh Cutler, MAYDAY 2013 Committee Chair, Winchester, VA
Memorial Song “When the Healing Comes” by Lisa Bevill, Lyme Patient, Nashville, TN
Memorial Opening Speech by Carolyn Booth Thomas, MAYDAY 2013 Committee Member, Virginia Beach, VA
Memorial Reflection Time “Amazing Grace” and flower presentation

10:20-10:40:
Monte Skall, Executive Director, National Capital Lyme Disease Association, Washington, DC Patient Advocacy
Susan Green, Attorney, Baltimore, MD Patient Advocacy

10:40-11:00:
Samuel Shor, MD, FACP, Reston, VA Scientific Advancements

11:00-11:10:
Virginia Savely, DNP, Washington, DC The Importance of Patient Education about Lyme & Co’s

11:10-11:30:
Katina Makris, CCH, CIH, Author, Peterborough, NH Mending the Emotional & Spiritual Wounds of Lyme Disease

11:30-11:40:
Sharon Rainey, Author, Patient Advocate, Great Falls, VA Benefits of Green Smoothies

11:40-12:00
Patient Open Mic

12:00-1:00: LUNCH BREAK!

1:00-1:30:
Patient Open Mic

1:30-1:50:
David Stewart, MD, Board Certified in Family Medicine & Holistic Medicine, Leesburg, VA Importance of
Co-infection Testing

1:50-2:00:
Jaime Bloom, Patient Advocate, Lawrenceville, GA The Impact of Lyme on the Elderly

2:00-2:15:
Alyssa Knapp, Lyme Survivor, Rhinebeck, NY Life after Lyme

2:15-2:30:
Closing Statement by Josh Cutler

2:30: WHITE HOUSE MARCH!

Saturday Evening, May 25th:
5:30 PM – 10 PM: Once again this year, Jeff and Sharon Rainey have graciously invited Rally participants to their residence in Virginia for a BBQ! Their address will be provided on the day of the protest to those who do not have it yet and are interested in attending.

Will MAYDAY 2013 commemoration T-shirts be available? Yes!
The official MAYDAY 2013 Zazzle Store is open for business! Please use the link below for all of your MAYDAY 2013 WASHINGTON, DC t-shirt needs and more! And please be sure to share this Zazzle link anywhere and everywhere!

http://www.zazzle.com/lymemayday2013/gifts

IMPORTANT: The shirts with WHITE in the design cost more than the two-color/two-tone blue shirts. So, if a full-color design shirt is too costly, just select one that does not have white in it and the price will be lowered. BUT, remember to GO GREEN for your shirt color — any shade of green that strikes your fancy will be fine — a bouquet of glorious green tones is our goal. THANKS!!!

To find out ways that you can help to make MAYDAY 1013 a success, please click here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mayday-2013?c=pledges

Additional Hotel Information:
The Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
5000 Seminary Rd Alexandria, VA 22311
(703) 845-1010
http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/virginia/hilton-alexandria-mark-center-DCAAHHF/index.html

IMPORTANT!!!
We are trying to keep a running estimate of the number of people who will actually be in attendance at this year’s MAYDAY Rally. So, please confirm that you are physically attending the protest by ONLY clicking “Going” on the MayDay Facebook Event page if you are actually going to be in attendance at the MAYDAY Rally this year. Also, while we do appreciate those of you who cannot attend but may have clicked “Going” to show your support, please change your response to “Not Going.” This will help us tremendously with our head-count estimates.

Thank you, and we can’t wait to see everyone this MAYDAY! Come one, come all, to the MAYDAY BALL!!! see you there.

This information is provided by Allison Haufmann-Caruna of the MayDay committee.

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