December 2024 - Happy New Year from CLBDI, looking back on 2024, plans for the new year, and more...

Hello Lewy Warriors,

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who celebrated! We hope the past week was filled with joy, comfort, laughter, and light. It’s the end of another month which means it’s time for another CLBDI monthly update. It’s also the last day of the year so we wanted to take a quick look back on everything we’ve accomplished in 2024 and look forward to what is coming in 2025.

​Let's kick things off with a look forward to next month and everything we have coming your way in 2025. In the coming weeks you can expect the launch of our new CLBDI hats (which look awesome and are super warm), an updated donation total, an announcement on the return of the “CLBDI Talks” interview series to our YouTube channel, and the soft-launch of our CLBDI Support Group.

The new CLBDI hats will be available to order online and will have a base cost of $20 (plus shipping or delivery fee). Half of all sales will go to Dr. Pasternak’s LBD research at the University of Western Ontario. More information on ordering will be available very soon. Thanks again to New Era Graphix and our board members Michelle and Marisha for all their help with the hats. We’re so pleased with how they turned out and can’t wait to see people wearing them. Check out one of the hats in the photo below:

We’re so pleased with what we’ve been able to do this year in terms of fundraising and we thank everyone who has donated this year. As of this past October, we had raised $81,012.17 for Dr. Pasternak’s research. Wow. We can hardly believe it and we can’t wait to see where we stand in a few weeks. We will have an updated donation total for everyone in early January.

Dr. Pasternak gave us an update on where the funds we’ve raised have been going so that we could share it with you:

“The funds have been used to support 2 graduate students. Diana Romadina just graduated from UWO with her Master’s degree and is studying how the protein Alpha Synuclein (which is important in Lewy Body pathology) moves inside nerve cells. You are also currently supporting Maxine Golden, a graduate student who is working for me on developing a blood test for Lewy Body disease and Parkinson’s disease.”

If you would like to donate, visit The LBD Research Fund & Donations page of our website. There, you can easily reach the online donation landing page or learn how to donate via phone, mail, or set up a memorial or legacy donation in memory of a Loved One.

We have also shared six episodes of “CLBDI Talks” since the end of 2023 and will be returning in 2025 with more content, more guests, and more great conversations for everyone to enjoy. We wanted to thank everyone who has been a part of the series this year and everyone who took the time to listen to/watch the show. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement on the return of the series in the coming weeks. You can watch all six of our previously released episodes here: 

www.youtube.com/@canadianlbdinfo

In other exciting news, we plan to launch our in-person CLBDI Support Group this coming month and, if all goes well, open them to the public and eventually offer an online support groups as the year progresses. This initiative has been spearheaded by our founder Carol and we’re very excited to see it grow in 2025. Keep an eye out for updates on that as we move into 2025.

As for 2024, it was a challenging year personally for many members of CLBDI but we did our best to keep on keeping on. We held various speaking events in Waterloo, launched our CLBDI Advocacy Letter Template (which you can read and download on the CLBDI Advocacy Letter 2024 page), held a CLBDI Community Walk event in St. Jacobs (big thanks to EcoCafe for offering the space to meet after the walk and the support), spoke with many amazing and supportive businesses and community members on our Community Outreach event in Uptown Waterloo, raised awareness and funds with the first ever “Loonie Loops” fundraising walk, celebrated five years of CLBDI with our family and friends, and more.

In 2025, we hope to host more community events, organize another “Loonie Loops” walk, update our webinar, speak at more events, and grow within our community. Thank you again to everyone who has been a part of this project in any way over the past year. We've been enjoying a bit of quiet time to reflect as the year comes to a close and are so grateful to everyone in our CLBDI community. We appreciate each and every one of you.

​We wish everyone a wonderful, safe, and fun New Year’s Eve and we’ll see you all in 2025.

​All the best,
Joe