Organization Highlights

By Steve Mallory

May 2002

q Web Design - Well, finally the new web design is in place. I hope that everybody has gone to our homepage and looked. It seems to me that the whole layout worked better all around this time. I redesigned the site and navigation is much simpler. I hope everybody can find all the things that our site has to offer. Let me talk about these, just for a second!

q Support – If you are wondering what is the best type of stroke support you need to start at http://www.strokesupport.org/ or http://www.strokecaregiver.org/. Once you get to the sites you want to click on the Mailing List button. We have one list for the stroke survivor support and one list for the stroke caregivers. You are invited to join one of these lists and talk with the dozens of other stroke survivors or stroke caregivers. In addition to getting support from our lists, they are our best resource for information. What better way to obtain practical information about stroke then to ask those who have actually spent time living through those periods. We have just recently added Peggy Polczynski as the Mailing List Manager and Eli Arnold as our Technical Manager. Together they will be happy to take care of any mailing list issue.

q Socializing – I want to stress the importance of this subject. This area of your brains was zapped by stroke just like any other brain region. It’s just as important to talk amongst friends once again and get those brain cells stimulated. This type of “therapy” is an important part of the rehabilitation process and cannot be obtained unless you take the time socializing with others. Survivors and caregivers are welcome to attend. We have our own private chat room and have scheduled chat sessions several times each week. This month we have added Tonya Schettner as the chat host for our “under 40” chat session. The chat room and schedule can be accessed at http://www.strokesupport.org/chat.htm.

q Fundraiser – This is our first fundraiser. Please visit http://www.strokenetwork.org/memberzone/fundraiser/scooter.htm. We hope to raise at least $5,000. This is not an unrealistic objective. This e-mail is distributed to well over 600 people. If each person were to sell just 1 ticket we could reach our goal easily. The tickets are selling for $25 and the price is valued at approximately $2,500. A $25 ticket, with 200 tickets, minimum, being sold, is a fantastic deal.

§ The prize is a mobility scooter, which is being donated by one of our members, Charlie LeFever. Charlie is a stroke survivor and a scooter distributor. He understands what stroke survivors need and the potential benefits of having one can do for the quality of your life.

§ Charlie is offering a fantastic warranty and free shipping within the continental USA. This is not only the perfect opportunity for our organization to purchase some of the things necessary to making this a much better non-profit organization but this is the perfect prize for our members.

§ Tickets are not just limited to our members. You can sell a ticket to friends, relatives, church members, retirement homes, neighbors, etc. Virtually anybody who can benefit from not having to walk any distance is going to love this item.

§ Lisa Mikutis is our Fund Raising Chairperson and can sell you tickets. All the pertinent information about this can be found on the web page above. Lisa can be e-mailed at FundRaise@strokenetwork.org.

q Mentor Program – it’s essentially ready to go but we have had nobody volunteer to become a mentor. Have you had your stroke several years ago and now would like to somehow give back? You might be perfect for this task. We need survivors who have triumphed over their stroke and are proud to tell others what things they have learned. Please share your knowledge with those who have recently had a stroke. E-mail our Support Coordinator, Lisa at Lmikutis@strokenetwork.org or if you might find it otherwise satisfying to volunteer for our organization, e-mail Pat Provost, Pprovost@strokenetwork.org. Pat is our Director of Personnel.

The Stroke Network, Inc.

P.O. Box 492 Abingdon, Maryland 21009