Time to celebrate Mary Pack’s dreams…
On Oct. 8, 1904, a remarkable woman was born. Now as we edge within months of the 100th anniversary of Mary Pack’s birth, plans are taking shape for a season of celebrating.
Mary Pack was a visionary whose dream of a world without arthritis led her to found The Arthritis Society. A home-schooling teacher who counted among her students children who were bedridden because of the devastating effects of arthritis, Mary Pack determined to make their lives better. It became a life-long passion, one to which she dedicated her considerable energy and intelligence until her death in 1992 at the age of 87.
Mary Pack’s dream lives on. The Arthritis Society has made huge strides in helping people live better with their arthritis. From arthritis self-management programs to exercise classes specially focused on the needs of people with joint problems, from educational forums to research advances that are providing practical solutions, we have taken up Mary Pack’s dream.
The 100th anniversary celebrations will not only applaud those advances, but will focus on the next challenge—finding the causes and cure for arthritis.
Beginning in May, The Arthritis Society will host 22 donor events in 20 communities throughout BC. Each of the events will feature a speaker to highlight the progress that’s been made in research, education and care of arthritis. Then the future of arthritis will hit the spotlight, imagining what the world without arthritis will look like and what we need to do to achieve it! Finale events will be held in Kelowna, Langley, Parksville, Victoria and Vancouver in October.
One of the main goals of the Mary Pack centennial celebrations will be to create three endowment funds in the areas of research, care and education, which will provide financial support in perpetuity to help find the causes and cure. In addition, the centennial campaign will raise funds for a Chair in Paediatric Rheumatology at the University of British Columbia, closing the circle which Mary Pack began when she first was moved to action by an eight-year-old home bound student in 1945.
Watch your mailbox, or visit The Arthritis Society web site at www.arthritis.ca/bc as we move into the late spring and summer months for more on the Mary Pack centennial celebrations.
