Parkinson Canada SuperWalk 2021 has Launched
The SuperWalk website is now officially open for Team and Individual registrations!
This year’s national walk will take place in your own local community, where you’ll Walk Your Way using the digital and physical “Walk in A Box” tools that were created to make your experience personal, fun and memorable. Need a little inspiration? Take a look at these incredible photos of last year’s SuperWalk teams Walking Their Way to get you started on your own inspiring DIY event.
While you work on gathering your teams, planning your walk and hitting your fundraising goals, Parkinson Canada continues the work of developing tools and resources to support People Living with Parkinson’s, creating educational content, advocating for better treatments, and researching for a cure.
Your SuperWalk efforts fuel a better life for Canadians with Parkinson’s.
Learn more and register today at www.superwalk.ca.
May 26 Webinar: Understanding Loss and Building a Compassionate Response – Tools for the carepartner
In this session we will aim to normalize the emotional side of caregiving through the lens of better understanding of the multiple losses one can experiencing upon a caregiving journey. This will include a look at the experience of anticipatory loss and the everyday losses caregivers face and how the current pandemic has complicated our grief response.
Many of us are currently in autopilot mode, the aim of the session will be to introduce the concept of self-compassion for caregivers experiencing loss. A simple strategy that can take less than 2 minutes a day will be introduced to help caregivers acknowledge and validate their own feelings.
Joanie’s Walkers raise nearly $12,000
A note from Team Captain Shelley Kossatz:
My dear friend/”big sister”, Joan Powell, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2009. She courageously battles this constantly evolving disease, working her way through new challenges daily.
To honour her and show our love and support of her and others living with Parkinson’s, we created “Joanies’s Walk”. With COVID restrictions in place families and individuals did their own 5K or more walk, wherever they were, sharing pics virtually! Our team “Joanie’s ARCangels” included walkers from Oshawa, Fort Frances, Halifax and many places in between. We raised almost $12,000.00! Way to go, TEAM! Best of all though, this walk re-connected Joan with her family and friends. Parkinson’s can leave you feeling very isolated as you work your way through daily challenges. I think our walk helped Joan realize just how much she is loved and supported!
“It takes a village,” they say! Sometimes you just need something new and fresh to remind you who is in yours!
Love ya tons “Big Sis”!
View Joanie’s ArcAngels on Fundraising Your Way, or register your own initiative to honour someone you care about.
April Resilience Webinar Recording Available
Here’s what you had to say about the Parkinson’s Awareness Month Resilience webinar:
I would like to say this, by far, was the best webinar on Parkinson’s Disease I have attended. It took me a few years to get my head around having been diagnosed with Parkinson. You hit the nail on the head with many points that I felt I was the only one experiencing. Apathy being the latest in my life. It was encouraging to hear Tim say about staying on the couch for a day. Your panel spoke clearly and in plain not technical terms, you were extremely knowledgeable on PD and Entertaining as well.
This was a wonderful event. The quality of the speakers was excellent. It helped me think more deeply about what I can be doing to help myself, and others. It strengthened my resolve to let others know about my condition. I now understand that the entire atmosphere around having Parkinson’s would ease. It also made me realize that I would like to participate in research. Thank you so much.
I found the webinar fascinating and uplifting in many ways. I was particularly interested in Dr. Visanji’s confirmation that clinically not all Parkinson’s patients are the same which appears evident when you have a group of PD patients together… I congratulate you on the work that Parkinson’s Canada is doing. Keep it up.
“Pumped” is the word the kids use today – onwards… fearless and regardless.
Don’t miss this session. Learn more on this panel of perspectives on resilience and watch the recording.
Parkinson’s Awareness Month results
There were two focuses of this year’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month. The first was on combatting misconceptions and celebrating resilience with the No Matter What messages you saw on social media. The second was on making sure that the issues that matter to you, including timely diagnosis and access to care, were covered in national and local media across the country.
With thanks to those across the country who shared their voice, both conversations were at the forefront during Parkinson’s Awareness Month.
Here are just a few highlights:
- 20,000,000 views of all media coverage throughout the country
- 465,900 views of our No Matter What Facebook video series, showcasing the resilience of people living with Parkinson’s
- 1,253 registrations for our Resilience Webinar – an increase of about 1,200% from last year – with 751 live viewers. Our most popular webinar yet!
See more detail and watch the clips
Ontario Brain Institute Public Talks: The Wellness Series
Join funding partners at the OBI for Find Meaning in Movement on May 26, featuring Sarah Robichaud of Dancing with Parkinson’s Canada.
Thanks for sharing such a piece of beautiful information with us.