You can make a difference for those affected by preeclampsia!  Join our community and become a part of the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia, a Preeclampsia Foundation signature event.  Your support makes it possible for us to provide patient support and education, raise public awareness, fund research, and improve healthcare practices.

Come out to a fun family-friendly event near you and walk with us!  Now through February 14th, 2018, if you register for the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia and raise $100, you can qualify for a complimentary walk T-shirt!  Shirts can be picked up on walk day at the registration table.   Register at www.promisewalk.org.

Let’s make strides and deliver hope for mothers and their babies!

These guys are ready, and so are we! The 2018 Promise Walk for Preeclampsia season officially opens for registration on Friday, December 1st, 2017!  Grab your family, your friends, your neighbors and form a walk team.  Let’s make this season the biggest yet in our efforts to bring awareness and raise funds to make strides and deliver hope to moms and their babies affected by preeclampsia.

Register at www.promisewalk.org – we can’t wait to see you there!

P.S. Even if there’s not an event near you, you can still form a team and join us virtually!

The Preeclampsia Foundation is excited to kick off the 2018 Promise Walk for Preeclampsia season.  We are currently out in the field training our Promise Walk Chairs and their committees and are really excited for the energy the team is bringing this year!  We are working hard to make our nationwide events bigger and better than ever before, and we can’t wait for you to join us!  Registration will officially open on December 1st, 2017.

Today is the last day of the 2017 Promise Walk for Preeclampsia season.  As I sit here in my office, I’m feeling overwhelmed with gratitude.  The amount of time, effort, energy, and contributions that 3,700+ individuals put in to making these events successful nationwide both humbles and astounds me.  You are all making a world of difference to families, mothers, and babies affected by preeclampsia.  Since the inception of the walk in 2005, the Preeclampsia Foundation has now raised millions of dollars towards advancing research, providing patient education and support, raising awareness, and improving healthcare practices.

This season was particularly special to me as it was my first as National Events Manager. There are so many who helped and supported me in my transition into this position, and the patience, enthusiasm, and teamwork exhibited by the Walk Chairs and volunteers in each city was impressive.  Our volunteers are some of the most passionate and dedicated people I have ever encountered!  I personally think we have the best volunteers in the entirety of the non-profit world, and I appreciate all of you!

I need to say thank you as well to our national sponsors this year:  BabyCenter, NTD Labs, and Gestvision.  Your corporate leadership towards these walks helps the voices of our families to be heard!  And to our many local sponsors, you are making such a significant impact in your communities in the level of awareness we’ve achieved.  You truly are making strides and delivering hope!

To those that gave a financial contribution this year….your generosity is incredible.  Your dollars are literally saving lives of moms and babies and there’s nothing more invaluable than that.  And every dollar makes a difference.  Thank you so much!

Finally, to the participants, I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are out there walking…rain or shine, in the heat or cold…and you are being seen.  I’d also like to say: please, keep walking.  This effort seems like an uphill battle at times.  Maternal mortality is on the rise in the United States.  There’s so much more to do. But we all must put one foot in front of the other in order to keep moving forward.   We’ve got a lot of walking ahead of us.  As a team, we CAN put an end to preeclampsia. TOGETHER.

~Sara Gauthier, National Events Manager

May is National Preeclampsia Awareness Month here in the United States, but this year, the Preeclampsia Foundation is pleased to cosponsor the first-ever World Preeclampsia Day with @BabyCenter, Ending Eclampsia/USAID, ISSHP & PRE-EMPT.   Let’s make our message heard worldwide by joining our Thunderclap on May 22 at 8am Eastern Standard Time!

What’s a Thunderclap you ask???   Social media is an easy way to say something, but it’s a difficult way to be heard. A Thunderclap is the first-ever crowdspeaking platform that helps people be heard by saying something together.  When the “thunder” strikes, a single message is mass-shared by everyone who joined, flash mob-style, so it rises above the noise of your social networks and spreads awareness quickly.

JOIN IN AND SHARE: http://thndr.me/NvxqmB #worldpreeclampsiaday

The Preeclampsia Foundation is thrilled to announce the newest member of our team – Director of Development, Sean Farrell. With over a decade of experience in fundraising, program management, and community investment initiatives, Sean’s primary focus is growing a culture of philanthropy with current and prospective donors, board members, volunteers, and survivors across the country.

Sean joined the Foundation in 2017, holding previous fundraising positions with the Health First Foundation in Melbourne, Florida, and The Salesian Society of Florida and Cristo Rey High Schools in Tampa, Florida. Sean received his Bachelor of Arts in Education with a concentration in social sciences from Saint Leo University in Dade City, Florida. Sean is a member of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Sean and his wife Valerie are life-long residents of Brevard County, home to the Foundation headquarters. They have two children and are active in the local community through various young-professional organizations and their church. While not personally touched by preeclampsia, Sean and his wife dealt with several pre-and post-natal complications of their first child, which sparked an ever-growing passion to bring world-class health care to mothers and children throughout the nation.

Sean is honored to spearhead the fundraising efforts of the Preeclampsia Foundation to continue the vital mission of spreading awareness, increasing health industry education, and through the work of research, bringing an end to preeclampsia.  Welcome, Sean!

And because spring has us feeling a little sassy here in the home office, we’re offering not only one but TWO of these prize packages…so there’s double the chance for you to win! Winners will be announced on the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia Facebook page on Friday, May 5th.  Good Luck and Happy Fundraising!

This year, claiming your recognition items will be easier than ever! You will receive a redemption certificate for your level via email approximately 2 weeks after the event. All donations must be turned in at this time. You will then be able to electronically claim the item of your choice (note, gifts are not cumulative this year). Be sure that if you receive any donations via check that you send them into our home office using the donation collection form or turn them in on the day of the event to your walk coordinator. Certificates must be redeemed within 4 weeks of your receiving them.

Additionally, don’t forget to customize your fundraising page and encourage people to give via online methods. That way, you can be recognized as one of our top fundraisers at the walk event with your full team and individual totals!

Every step you take gathering support helps us make a difference in the lives of families affected by preeclampsia everywhere.

Lisa Gadsby and her team, Team Conner, walk in memory of her son at the San Francisco Bay Area Promise Walk for Preeclampsia.  Her hopes are that by raising awareness, others can be more informed about the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia.

How did your family and team first get involved with the Preeclampsia Foundation? 

We came across the Preeclampsia Foundation website when seeking information about preeclampsia. In September 2016, at 24 weeks pregnant with our first child, I developed severe preeclampsia. Our son Conner was delivered 4 days later. Sadly, he passed away two days later due to complications of a very premature delivery.

Why is raising awareness and supporting research for preeclampsia so important to you?

It’s important because, as we came to realize, there is still a lot that is unknown about the exact cause(s) of preeclampsia. Also, it is much more common than we ever knew. We want to raise awareness in hopes that others may be better informed of the signs and symptoms, to raise funds for more research, and to let others know that they are not alone.

How has the Promise Walk and the Preeclampsia Foundation helped you and your family as you moved through your experience?

It has helped us to educate ourselves and also to direct our friends and family to where they can get more information, because they had questions too, and we didn’t always have the energy and strength to explain it to people at the time. Joining the Promise Walk has given us hope and comfort through other’s shared experiences. It is something positive we can do to honor Conner’s memory.

What would you say to people who are NOT currently participating in the walk to get them involved?

I would want them to know that there are many families out there who have been impacted by preeclampsia, but it’s not something people readily talk about. Participating in the walk is a great way to promote education and awareness and support continued research. It’s a great cause and if you don’t have a walk near you (or can’t/don’t want to walk) you can be a virtual walker!