PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Hello Friends of Scleroderma Foundation of California!

Happy Fall!

It’s always a lovely time for family and friends as we prepare for the calendar year to end and plan for holiday festivities and gatherings. It’s also a time to review the passing year, reflect on accomplishments and consider new goals to come.

As we look back on SFCA’s year, we can acknowledge that we continue to pursue the goals of our Strategic Plan, such as expanding our Board, as we welcome Brittany Stone as our newest board member.  Many of you know Brittany as the Co-Leader for our Young Adult Support Group and for her incredible work as co-chair of our A Million Steps for Scleroderma LA/OC event.  We are very lucky to have her on our Board!  

We continue to expand our patient services and support group outreach led by Tina Burger, Patient Services Director along with Alejandra Serrano, Patient Support. Lynn Muramaru, our support group leader for Hawaii, continues to expand services and support for the residents of Hawaii, some of whom have not had the opportunity to know others with this disease. With thanks to the bequest of the estate of Florence I. Heckenbach, we established the Sheri L. Heckenbach Endowment fund that will ensure financial stability for the immediate future; and we continue to pursue collaborative opportunities with other scleroderma organizations around the country and across the world.  

Our 24th Annual Key to a Cure Gala, held October 18th at the Marina del Rey Marriott was very successful. We honored Merck & Co with the President’s Award and UCLA Scleroderma Center with the Helen Greenburg Memorial Spirit of Leadership Award.  It was a successful evening!  Thank you to our gala committee chairs, Sharon Friedman, Elyse Klein and Jennifer Greenburg, to Andrew Emmett, Executive Director and to Emmanuel Munda, our Marketing, Event and Technology Consultant and Madonna & Robin and the staff from Cacciatore Productions for their event management.

And now….we look forward to 2026 with anticipation as we continue to pursue our vision – for all scleroderma patients to receive an accurate and timely diagnosis and access to care and support.

And to you – our dear friends and supporters – thank you for staying on this journey with us!  We cannot do it without you. 

Wishing you and your families all the joys of the holiday season.  We look forward to seeing you at our 2026 events so STAY TUNED!

With best regards,

Laura Fuhrman

President, Board of Directors

The Scleroderma Foundation of California