April 2007

Dear Advocacy Volunteers,

With the introduction of the first-ever comprehensive psoriasis legislation � the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Research, Cure, and Care Act of 2007 (PPARCCA), the psoriasis community has been buzzing with activity for the last two months. The word on the tip of all of our tongues is CO-SPONSOR.

Volunteer advocates from across the country have been writing letters/sending e-mails to their member in the U.S. House of Representatives, attending town hall meetings, calling their Representative's local office—asking that these members of Congress become co-sponsors of the bill. Here is a photo of one of our advocates, Cristy Boisvert (second from right), and her volunteer team meeting with Rep. Susan Davis (D-Ca.) (center in purple). In this case, Rep. Davis had already signed on to PPARCCA, and the advocates went to thank her and reinforce how important her support is.

We need to recruit more co-sponsors on the bill. Please visit www.psoriasis.org/advocacy/action to find out how you can bring in your congressional Representative's signature!

Many of you who attended Capitol Hill Day met our own Sharon DeBusk, editor for the National Psoriasis Foundation. Sharon filmed the event, and she and her husband, Tom Chartrand, produced a wonderful 6-minute video, which you can view at http://www.psoriasis.org/advocacy/chd/2007/video.php. It's fun to see all the familiar faces surrounded by the events in D.C. (including a snow fall!). And here's an interesting factoid: We posted this video on YouTube, issued a multimedia news release whereby the video was "picked up" by other outlets and posted it on our own Web site. To date, the video has received nearly 4,000 views! The video has proven to be a winning PR tool for our cause.

Finally, we have another key opportunity to help get the message across that advocating for a cure counts: The National Psoriasis Foundation will be announcing the Volunteer of the Year and presenting an award at our national conference, Aug. 17-18 in Las Vegas. Let's have another strong advocacy volunteer win this year! (PJ Leary, who advocates on so many fronts, won in 2006). To nominate your top volunteer psoriasis advocate, please visit http://www.psoriasis.org/community/volunteer/award/. Think about people you know who work for a cure through political advocacy by:

• Attending town hall meetings held by their members of Congress in their home districts and making a plea for support of the bill;
• Calling or e-mailing congressional offices;
• Reaching out to the media in their cities to talk about PPARCCA and their experiences on Capitol Hill;
• Meeting with their members of Congress in local district offices to drive home the importance of signing on to the bill;
• Attending Capitol Hill Day;
• Working behind the scenes to activate contacts and garner support.

From here at National Psoriasis Foundation, it's great to know that there is such a dedicated group of people working for more psoriasis research, better access to treatments and a cure. There are some 250 of you receiving F.A.N. mail and we extend our appreciation to you all.

Sheila Rittenberg
Director of Advocacy

p.s. For detailed information on the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Research, Cure, and Care Act of 2007, visit http://www.psoriasis.org/advocacy/priorities/pparcca/