Everyday Giving Blog: Do Kids Suffer From Arthritis?

Juvenile arthritis currently affects 300,000 kids in the United States. Arthritis does not just inflict the elderly.

Over the last three years I've become friends with several children and young people who have juvenile arthritis. Daily tasks and activities that we take for granted are difficult or even impossible for them to do.

I will never forget the first time I heard a child tell a doctor that he could not hold a pencil long enough to take a test and asked what he could do about it. I will also never forget the smile on a teenager's face (and her mom's face) the first time she was able to make a fist with her hand because of treatment changes made possible through the afforts of the Arthritis Foundation.

The Arthritis Foundation provides support to these kids and their families. One way they do this is by hosting conferences where these families can learn how to cope from experts and from each other. These conferences also spawn friendships and support among these families that goes on throughout each year.

For the past three years, I've had the privilege of being a volunteer at the Juvenile Arthritis Weekend in Virginia. Feel free to go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogercarr/sets/72157604531502162/ and view some of the photographs I captured during the last weekend. You can also play a part in supporting the efforts of the Arthrits Foundation.

Your help is needed. If you have not yet donated at least $10 to this important cause, please click here and change a child's life. Together we can make a difference.

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