PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear Friends,

It’s been a busy time for Scleroderma Foundation of California!

I am pleased to announce the addition of a new board member, Johanna Herrmann. Johanna, the niece of our beloved Josephine  Battyany, is the Vice President of Global Communications and Strategic Operations and Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President and Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer at Merck & Co. Johanna’s extensive background in public relations and communications is a welcome addition to our growing board. She resides in Florida with her family. Welcome Johanna!

We wish to also welcome Alejandra Serrano to our staff as our Administrative Assistant. Alejandra was a part-time employee, and we are now lucky to have her full-time as part of our team. We also welcome Emmanuel Munda back as a regular consultant. Many of us know of Emmanuel’s dedication to managing the audio/visual components of our events; we are happy to have him with us for our audio/visual/video/technical needs as we continue to grow and expand beyond Southern California.

As spring and summer approach, we have a full calendar of upcoming events. Watch for information about our A Million Steps for Scleroderma events in LA/OC and San Diego as well as our Patient Education Days in San Diego and Northern California. Our annual Vertical Cure event at Mammoth Mountain in March has raised over $660,000 over a 23- year period. We are enormously grateful to Chris Corman and his team who manage this event year after year. Thank you, Chris! Our Gala Committee will begin soon the planning of our 24th Annual Key to a Cure Gala. The Gala this year is Saturday, October 18 at the Marina del Rey Marriott. Mark your calendars and save the date for another extraordinary evening, benefitting Scleroderma Foundation of California. Bark for a Cure will be back later in the year – so keep snapping pictures of those beloved pets for this very popular campaign!

As always, I extend my thanks to our Board of Directors, our dedicated staff – and to all of you – our friends, donors, supporters – for continuing to support us. I am grateful and in awe of the dedication of so many thoughtful and caring folks who reach out to assist us in our mission. 

Laura Fuhrman

President, Board of Directors

The Scleroderma Foundation of California