By Brianna Spause
Special Features Editor
Fundraising for a hard-hitting cause; that is the aim of junior, Madison Campana. She, along with her sister Rebecca Campana are selling t-shirts at Neshaminy High School and Maple Point Middle School respectively to benefit The Arthritis Foundation.
The Arthritis Foundation was founded in 1948 with the aim of spreading awareness, funding research and hosting interventions for those dealing with arthritis. “The Voices of Arthritis. That’s what the Arthritis Foundation is about. We are the organization that represents people in this country who live with arthritis every day. Arthritis has hundreds of millions of voices. Fifty million people have the disease, and it also affects their families and friends,” is their motto, according to the Arthritis Foundation’s website.
In early March, Madison – with the help of her mother, Rebecca Campana – designed grey t-shirts that read “Fight for a Cure”. M. Campana has been selling the shirts for $15 apiece to benefit the organization, which has helped her through her own personal battle with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. JIA is an autoimmune disease that affects four or more joints.
Being diagnosed in fifth grade meant a long road ahead for Madison. Undergoing chemo therapy, experimental medications, and being forced to quit beloved sports has prompted her to rise above the everyday pain and do something about it.
“This cause is important to me because people don’t understand my disease. It is possible to develop arthritis at a young age, it just isn’t very common. This is an everyday struggle, and there is no cure,” M. Campana said.
As the school year comes to a close, Madison has raised a total of $220 from selling “Fight for a cure” t-shirts, and plans to continue her fundraising endeavors throughout the summer and throughout the 2013-2014 school year. She and her family hope that their efforts will contribute to the essential research that the Arthritis Foundation is conducting around the clock.
Madison can be reached through email at [email protected] for more information, and orders. “Raising money is so important because every day hundreds of thousands of millions are suffering… and there is no cure,” Campana said.
