"Caring by Sharing" - National Fibromyalgia Association Announces Campaign for Fibromyalgia Awareness Day- May 12, 2008

Anaheim, CA, February 10, 2008

"Caring by Sharing THE PATH"

For the first part of the campaign, the NFA will be launching “Caring by Sharing THE PATH,” involving an inaugural WALK of F.A.M.E. (Fibromyalgia Awareness Means Everything) event that can be hosted by support groups in their respective communities. The NFA will host its own WALK OF F.A.M.E. at The Block mall in Orange, California on Saturday, May 10, 2008.

"Caring by Sharing THE FACTS"

The second part of the campaign provides opportunities for participants to SHARE THE FACTS about fibromyalgia by hosting informational events in their communities. These can include, but are not limited to:

• Hosting a Health Faire
• Inviting a doctor or other medical professional to speak to an audience of FM patients
• Handing out FM materials in your community
• Inviting friends and family to your home

"Caring by Sharing AWARENESS"

The third and last part of the campaign focuses on SHARING AWARENESS of fibromyalgia. This can include patients contacting local media to share their stories and experiences as a person living with fibromyalgia.

The NFA will also be continuing its annual Awareness Day Proclamation Program, in which local support group leaders and advocates petition their elected officials to pass a resolution in their city and/or state declaring May 12, 2008 as “National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day.”

Additional information on the “Caring by Sharing” campaign, including free program guidelines and templates, is available on www.FMaware.org or by contacting April Quinn at aquinn@fmaware.org or (714) 921-0150.

“However you choose to express your ‘Caring by Sharing’ on National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, we are confident that through our combined efforts, we will continue to move forward in raising awareness and providing a better quality of life for the millions of people suffering with this chronic pain disorder,” say Lynne Matallana, president and founder of the National Fibromyalgia Association.

ABOUT AWARENESS DAY

In 1993, Tom Hennessy, the founder of RESCIND, INC. (Repeal Existing Stereotypes about Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases) designated May 12 as International Awareness Day for Chronic Immunological and Neurological Diseases (CIND). The date was chosen to memorialize the birth date of Florence Nightingale, the English army nurse who inspired the founding of the International Red Cross. Nightingale contracted a paralyzing, CIND-like illness in her mid-thirties and spent the last 50 years of her life virtually bedridden. Despite her illness, she managed to found the first ever School of Nursing. Awareness Day activities take place worldwide in an effort to increase awareness of chronic pain illnesses including fibromyalgia. Awareness Day seeks to help patients and organizations educate the general public, healthcare professionals, government officials, and legislative bodies. Since its inception in 1997, the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) has been the organization leading the call for increased recognition of fibromyalgia each May 12, and has staged groundbreaking national and international events in honor of Awareness Day.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL FIBROMYALGIA ASSOCIATION

The National Fibromyalgia Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to develop and execute programs dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with fibromyalgia. The NFA publishes a quarterly magazine, Fibromyalgia AWARE, and hosts an award-winning website at www.FMaware.org.

CONTACTS:

National Fibromyalgia Association
April Quinn, Sr. Director, Programs & Advocacy
714-921-0150
aquinn@fmaware.org

Media Contact:
Corin Walson, APR
Access Media Group, Inc.
714-921-8850
cwalson@walsonpr.com