December 2025 - Our year in review, and a look ahead at 2026...

Hello, Lewy Warriors!

Another year has come and gone, and we’re here to recap all the amazing things we’ve done together in 2025 and look forward to what we’ve got cooking in 2026. Before we do that, we wanted to say that we hope everyone had a wonderful December, a Merry Christmas, and a joyful holiday season. As always, the past year at CLBDI was filled with triumphs, challenges, and growth. Given our small project size, we’ve had to adapt and compromise when things didn’t go as planned. Despite the unexpected, we look back fondly on the year, grateful to everyone involved in all the things we’ve managed to accomplish.

The new year began with our CLBDI winter hats and a donation total of $92,722.17. Following the trend of 2024, we continued to promote and emphasize the importance of the CLBDI Advocacy Letter and the strength of grassroots advocacy in our community. Throughout the year, we released new episodes of CLBDI Talks featuring guests like Norma Loeb of the LBD Resource Center, cognitive neurologist Dr. Pasternak, author and Lewy Warrior Mary Lou Falcone, and others. In June, we successfully organized another Loonie Loops walk, raising over $300 for LBD research. Additionally, in July, some of Dr. Pasternak’s LBD research was published and we were overjoyed to shared the news. We also started planning and implementing updates to our website and met with inspiring individuals in the LBD and dementia communities, including Michelle Martin from the Alzheimer Society. We updated our email address, bid farewell to some members of our Advisory Board (Brian), and welcomed Hailey to our team. By the middle of the year, our total donations reached $117,117.05. We continued to actively engage with our community, sharing our mission with anyone willing to listen. Recently, we launched our CLBDI Donation Cards (thank you to Michelle and Marisha from our Advisory Board) and the holiday giveaway, which continues until January 1st. You can still join in on Facebook and Instagram to participate in the draw!

Looking ahead to next year, we have some exciting plans. First, we’ll receive our new donation total in late January, and we can’t wait to see if we’ve surpassed the $120,000 mark together. We’re very excited! Also in January, we hope to have the delayed episode of CLBDI Talks posted, along with most of the website updates finalized. Once those are complete, we’ll upgrade the site to offer French language translation for our francophone community. Nous sommes très excités! We’re also planning more community events, like the Loonie Loops and Community Walks, throughout Ontario. These events will provide more opportunities for people to feel supported and connect within our community. Additionally, we’re working on another online (and potentially hybrid) art show to raise funds for Lewy Body Dementia. More on that soon! We’ll also continue to produce more episodes of CLBDI Talks, video content, and host educational events wherever we are welcomed. As always, we’ll be speaking with MPs, MPPs, and anyone else who’s willing to listen about CLBDI and Lewy Body Dementia in Canada.

We are incredibly grateful for the unwavering support of our friends, family, community, and Advisory Board members throughout the past year. We are hopeful that together we will reach another donation milestone and are excited to be embarking on another year of collaboration and growth. This incredible journey would not be possible without the remarkable individuals who comprise the CLBDI community and their unwavering support for which we are so appreciative. We continue to be humbled by your generosity.

So, from everyone involved at CLBDI, we wish you a Happy New Year and all the best on 2026. We’ll be back at the end of January with a bunch of updates and news.

Best,
Joe