December Update: Saying Goodbye To 2021

Hello Lewy Warriors!

We're back with our final CLBDI blog post of 2021! Can you believe that it is already over? It seems like this year just flew by. First and foremost, we hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and that you all have a safe and fun New Year's Eve planned. We thought that we would take a minute to look back on everything that we've done together this year and celebrate the end of 2021 with positivity and gratitude.

I am so happy to announce that our 2021 Holiday Fundraiser's donation total is $1,623.95 (this includes a percentage of CLBDI shirt sales) and will be donated to Dr. Pasternak and his team tomorrow. What a way to end out the year! Thank you to everyone who donated their time, energy or funds to the fight against Lewy Body Dementia. A special shout out goes to Dean Widdifield who donated a whopping $500. So unbelievably generous of him. As Carol, our founder, says, "Merci Mille Fois!" We couldn't do it without all of you.

Although we have been dealing with the pandemic and things haven't really returned to "normal" throughout this past year, we've been so overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of everyone in our community. We're proud of everything that we have accomplished together and can't wait to share the new donation total next month. For now, let's look back on some of the amazing things we've done together.

We started the year with the $1,100.00 donation from the 2020 CLBDI Holiday Fundraiser and shortly after we surpassed $10,000.00 raised in total donations. In the spring, we launched our first ever CLBDI online art show, "Our Emotional Journey With LBD" and received such amazing feedback and so many kind words. At the same time, we ran our Spring Fundraiser and together we raised another $4,625.00. We continued to work through the summer months, adding to our list of resources, updating the site, and planning for the fall. By midsummer, we had raised $22,241.00 in total and surpassed our first overall goal of $20,000.00.

In September, we surpassed $25,000.00 raised in total and welcomed a new member (Natalie Leitzmann) to our Advisory Board. We also began working more closely with the board members as we began to plan our first merchandise drop and brainstorm plans for 2022. We wanted to take a moment here to thank every member of our Advisory Board for lending their skills, energy and minds to what we do here at CLBDI. We look forward to continuing to work with all of you and are so grateful that you continue to be a part of what we are doing. Thank you.

In October, we launched our first ever CLBDI merchandise drop and have sold well over half of our inventory since. We have plans for the next drop already in the works but if you still haven't gotten one for yourself click here to learn more and place an order. In November, we launched our Holiday Fundraiser for 2021 and started sharing information about the next online art show that we are putting together for next year.

Finally, we arrived at December and the end of another year. We've got a feeling that we're past the $30,000.00 in total donations mark but we won't know until next month when we hear from Emily at UWO. We also wanted to take a minute here to thank her as well for all she does for us. It has been a pleasure working with her.

You can scroll through the CLBDI Blog and check out more of the minute details but WOW. Considering the circumstances, we've done quite well. We couldn't do it without such an amazing community. Thank you all so much for an amazing year of growth and so many positive experiences. Being a part of CLBDI has given me so much joy. To be able to help in the fight against LBD and to get to know so many wonderful people fills me with such light and pride. You are as much a part of this as I am and together we are making a difference. We cannot wait for 2022 and the future of CLBDI.

Wishing you all the best this coming year.

​Cheers,
Joe