By Carrie
October 7 2002

This was posted on the messageboard by Carrie on behalf of herself and Jarrod. It explains what they are trying to do with the donations. Hi Everyone,

First and most importantly we wanted to say a huge thank you for the donation raised from the t-shirt sales. We should let you know that you have now gone international as Jarrods dad took one home with him when he was over recently !- he said seeing everyone wearing them was quite emotional, and i had a job holding back a tear when we were presented with the cheque last weekend. Thanks to all of you.

We also wanted to update you with where we are at regarding the fund we are setting up.
Because there hasn't been anything in the press from Jarrod since his diagnosis, i think most people have made the natural assumption that donations in support of Jarrod are going to the MNDA, however we are in the process of setting up a seperate charity entirely and wanted to let you know about it.

The charity we are setting up will be called The Jarrod Cunningham Salsa Foundation.
(Salsa : Supporting ALS Associates) aimed at providing Hope,support and care for people diagnosed with ALS:MND.

When we say Hope, support and care we are hoping to establish an international forum in the first instance via our web site ( currently under development- a mammoth task !!) whereby people with ALS:MND ( known as PALS) can read about and even contact other PALS who have lived 5,10,15,20 years with this disease and people like David Atkinson of NC USA who has reversed his symptoms and written a book, Eric Edney from USA and Steve Shackel from OZ who have stopped the progression of their illness....and there are 8-10 others we have heard about.

We want to create positive awareness about this illness and steer away from all the doom and gloom. At diagnosis It is true when the doctors say this disease is a progressive wasting disease that there is no cure and no treatment for, but it is equally true that there are exceptions to the rule and it is incredibly important to know there is hope, a chance, a reason to fight.

Our approach is a "Holistic" approach, we have spent time focusing on the Biochemical, Biophysical, emotional and spiritual pillars that support the healing process, we know our approach may not be everyones cup of tea, but for those who want help- we will be here to share experience and give support and guidance as we have had from others over these past few months. We hope to share what has worked for others and what hasn't, where to go and who to see and depending on the funds we raise we would like to give individuals financial assistance to achieve this kind of treatment too.

We thought best to fill you in because there was a recent statement on Sky sports news that the Walk about events being held in Sheperds Bush in November is raising money for Jarrod and funds going to the MNDA- we are in the process of trying to reverse this instance of the PR company not having been properly informed, but as you can imagine there are a lot of people who have already assumed that the charity to support Jarrod is the MNDA.
The MNDA does invaluable work in fundraising for medical research in the hope that science will provide the answer to this disease.
To bridge the gap, we hope our work and fundraising can show people there is another path to follow while we wait for science to come up with the answers.

We haven't got a charity registration number yet as it is still with Solicitors at this stage, but it should be a couple of weeks away.

In the meantime we have a provisional e-mail address you can write to until the website is up and running

salsafund@aol.com


many thanks
Carrie & Jarrod