March is Reading for Rachel Month

Help us find a cure for transverse myelitis!

Dear Ambassador:

Thank you for your willingness to be an Ambassador for the Reading for Rachel Program. We are very excited to have you as an integral part of our team as we continue the Reading for Rachel Program on a national and international level.

As you probably know, my daughter, Rachel was totally paralyzed by Transverse Myelitis (TM) at the age of 6 1/2 months. From that moment forward, there has been one major focus in our family - to better understand TM and to ultimately help in finding a cure. While Rachel remains paralyzed from the waist down, we have seen slow progress and we are hopeful that she is going to recover from the effects of TM. Much of our hope derives from the research that will be supported by the funds that are being raised by the Reading for Rachel Program. Your participation in and promotion of the Reading for Rachel Program will ensure a bright future for Rachel, as well as others who have TM.

Ambassadors play a critical role in the program. People support organizations that they know and they support causes in which they have a personal understanding and an emotional tie. As an Ambassador, you are the "person" in the personal with which individuals will identify. Rachel has definitely motivated a great deal of empathy in people, but people who have no knowledge of TM will more easily relate to a person who lives in their own community.

Where do you start? We recommend that you promote the Reading for Rachel Program in the schools in your community. Much of my success in promoting the program has rested on having the support of the PTA's from the schools in our community. It is even more effective if the building principals support the program since they may make resources available to you to distribute information to the students and /or parents most effectively. The more effective you can be in organizing cooperation from all involved in the school district, the more likely teachers will be to support the program and the more likely students will be to participate. We also were grateful to have found support in the local library system, parochial schools, church communities, pre-schools in the area and from friends and family members.

This is a wonderful learning experience for all involved. The goal is to raise research funds, but at the same time the children who participate learn valuable lessons about charity and diversity. They may also read more than they would otherwise and perhaps they may even improve their computer skills as well since all of the materials about the program are available at http://www.ReadingForRachel.org. We also have a brief video clip of Rachel at this web address so the children will be able to actually see Rachel and get a better understanding of her deficits as a result of her TM.

There really is no magic formula to make this campaign a success. Children might want to actively participate for an entire month, week or even a day. For example, one school in our area raised a significant amount of money by simply having all students participate in a "Reading for Rachel Day". Others may simply want to make a contribution to the TMA without actually participating in the reading. Some PTA’s in one area have also donated a percentage of their profits from book fees. The goal is to raise as much research funding as possible, the means by which we get there does not have to be consistent.

All of the information you will need to promote and implement the Reading for Rachel Program may be downloaded from the web site address listed above. If you have any questions or concerns as you commence your work, please do not hesitate to call any of us. We have established regional coordinators who will work with you should you need any assistance.

We look forward to continued success with Reading for Rachel and we are most thankful for your generous offer of your valuable time and energy. We also look forward to the day when doctors better understand TM, have effective treatments for the symptoms of TM, and ultimately have a cure. And we thank you for making this most important contribution to the research that is going to make all of these things possible! Thank you!

Sincerely,
Cathy Dorocak
Rachel's Mom
And National and International Chair of the Reading for Rachel Program
cathy@readingforrachel.org
(440) 572-5574

Regional Coordinators: