Can we all spread the word that you can help them with just a few minutes? Here’s a message from Matt:

Hannah’s Hope is currently #2 in the $250k for the Pepsi Refresh Project. Voting ends at the stroke of Midnight on Dec. 31. Please ask the Capital District to once again support Hannah’s Hope for this amazing grant opportunity. This money is Godsend and will go a long way toward helping us pay for this clinical trial to treat children suffering from Giant Axonal Neuropathy (GAN).

voting information:
1) Free text vote TO: 73774, the MESSAGE: 104051
2) Online vote at: http://www.refresheverything.com/hannahshope
3) Also, vote using Facebook login, which is a button on top left of the Pepsi login screen.

We are praying for a New Year’s miracle! Please help us help these kids!

Hannah’s Hope needs to continue to raise about $1.1mn to fully pay for a clinical trial. GAN is very rare, thus Pharma. and Biotechnology companies are not interested in developing treatments for rare disorders, due to lower profits. In the traditional setting, it’s the Pharmaceutical and Biotech that fund clinical trials, with the the hope of obtaining FDA approval for long-term use of the treatment they’ve developed. In the case of Hannah’s Hope, our collaborative team of scientists have developed GAN gene therapy to treat the nerve cells in the spinal cord to treat GAN. The mechanism of this treatment can also be used to treat Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), which is the leading cause of death in children by genetic disorder.

Hannah’s Hope is a 100% volunteer organization with NO paid employees.

not that I don’t love Lydia… :o)