Paul's birthday wish for Youth Rally Inc

Want to join me in making a difference? As many of you know, I am chair of a patient advocacy organization , Youth Rally Inc (www.youthrally.org) , and I'm raising money to send kids to camp this summer. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me. I myself was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I was 13 years old, and had a colectomy at 19 years old , which saved my life. Today we have effective innovations in medications, but there is still much research to do to provide a cure.

Youth Rally provides an environment for adolescents living with conditions of the bowel and bladder ( over 50 diagnoses) that encourages self-confidence and independent living.

We do this through a 5 day camp experience on a college campus with nurses on site and counselors who live with the same conditions, all of whom are volunteers.

Youth Rally is back to our signature IN PERSON summer camp experience and this year we will be hosting kids from all over the world to the University of Colorado, Boulder. No camper gets turned away for an inabilty to pay, which is why i am raising funds.

Imagine being a kid with inflammatory bowel disease, spina bifida, bladder extrophy or any of the other over 50 medical diagnoses our kids have and imagine being able to go away for ONE WEEK to a place where EVERYONE feels "normal" and everyone has one of the diagnoses you do. Its liberating, its self helping , its a miraculous family that has been doing this together for over 35 years and we are still growing and benefitting new kids every year.

So please, give any amount. Your donation is tax deductible, and will go to ONLY supporting Youth Rally kids. No member of my volunteer laeadership team is paid. We are all volunteers, some who attended Youth Rally as campers and some, like me that never had a Youth Rally growing up with Cronn's but want to make a difference for others! Tuition is $500.00/camper, and airfare is variable, between $200.00- $1000.00 but any amount will help, large or small. If you want to simply SEND A CHECK Please indicate in a memo if you intend to sponsor a specific camper, volunteer, or program activity. Checks should be made out to the "Youth Rally Committee, Inc." and identified as "Paul's birthday wish", and mailed to:

Youth Rally Committee, Inc

C/O Mary Beth Akers

949 Chestnut Oak Dr

St. Charles, MO 63303