A local foundation that raises money for research into a dreadful disease that snuffs out the lives of young children is 40-per-cent short of its fundraising goal. With only seven days left in its annual Christmas Hope raffle, Bethany's Hope Foundation needs to sell 2,000 tickets at $10 apiece to reach its $50,000 goal.
The campaign got off to a poor start in the fall with only 600 of 5,000 tickets sold in two months.
But sales picked up dramatically after newspaper coverage in early December, said foundation director Lindey McIntyre, adding about 3,000 tickets have been sold.
"It was a remarkable response.We had orders from as far away as Yellowknife, Vancouver and Florida."
But most of the tickets for the Jan. 13 draw were sold to people in the London area, including those in and around St. Thomas, Sarnia, Chatham and Woodstock, said McIntyre.
"I'd like to thank everyone for turning our campaign around and supporting the search for a cure for MLD (metachromatic leukodystrophy)."
The disease destroys the protective fatty covering of nerve fibres, called myelin, leading to progressive physical degeneration, disability and premature death.
Infants with the disease can deteriorate rapidly in a few years from walking and talking to blindness, deafness and immobility.
McIntyre and her husband lost their daughter, Bethany, to MLD in 2000 when she was seven and helped start the foundation named after the girl.
MLD is a rare disease, striking only one in 100,000 people.
That makes fundraising to combat it a challenge, said McIntyre.
"MLD isn't as well known as more common diseases, but you only have to see one child with it to want to do something about it."
Since its inception, the foundation has raised $670,400 for research into MLD being overseen by Dr. Tony Rupar of the University of Western Ontario and Dr. John Barranger of the University of Pittsburgh. The Christmas Hope raffle is one of the foundation's key annual fundraisers for the research.
CHRISTMAS HOPE
The $10 tickets can be purchased by calling 858-HOPE (4673) or visiting the prize sponsors -- Federated Tools and Kingsmills.
The grand prize for the Jan. 13 draw is a "dream workshop" featuring $12,000 worth of power tools. Second prize is a $10,000 shopping spree for a "dream kitchen."
