DSF Annual Campaign - Dravet Syndrome Foundation

A LETTER FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Friend,

As we celebrate 15 years of impact at Dravet Syndrome Foundation (DSF), we’re filled with gratitude for all who have joined us in making a difference. This year, your generosity and commitment to our mission have fueled remarkable achievements for Dravet families:

We hosted our 6th DSF Family & Professional Conference, bringing together families, professionals, and advocates to strengthen our community.
Our executive team attended over 20 professional events, building crucial connections to advance our outreach and support.
We trained 15 new Family Ambassadors, expanding our network of support for families across the country.
Five fundraising galas raised over $1.37M, empowering our initiatives.
New support resources were launched, including our Caregiver Connect webinar series and virtual meet-ups designed for grandparents.
We anticipate funding at least another $1.5M to research by the end of 2024.

As we approach the end of the year, you have the unique opportunity to double your impact through our Year End Challenge Fund. Every donation made before December 31 will be matched up to $30,000, amplifying the difference you can make in the lives of Dravet families.

Your support can help fund groundbreaking research, provide direct family support, and expand essential resources like our Caregiver Connect series. Together, we can drive even more progress in 2025, bringing us closer to life-changing breakthroughs.

Will you help us reach new heights this year? Join us in making an impact that matters for Dravet families.

With deep gratitude,

Mary Anne Meskis
Executive Director
Dravet Syndrome Foundation

P.S. Why not use this opportunity to make a donation in honor or in memory of a loved one? Be sure to include that information on the donation form. And don’t forget to send your gift by the end of the year to maximize your tax savings. Thank you for supporting DSF!

DSF funding has had a profound impact on my research program. I have been fortunate to recruit talented trainees to work in my lab who have been instrumental in advancing our research projects. We are excited and grateful to be working to improve our understanding of mechanisms of SUDEP in Dravet syndrome.

Dravet Syndrome Foundation has been a lifeline to my daughter during her battle with Dravet syndrome. They have helped guide us to the best specialist, provided mental and emotional support and also assisted us with purchasing seizure alert items that our insurance wouldn’t cover. I am forever grateful and thankful.

DSF funding enabled us to assemble a multi-institutional team with diverse areas of expertise. We are translating our previous basic science results to the clinical level, with the goal to better understand cardiac electrical function in people with DS.

The Dravet Syndrome Foundation helped save us. Two new parents to a then 5 month (now 3) old seizing uncontrollably, in and out of the hospital, a million questions, lost and scared, until we received the Dravet Syndrome Diagnosis and found this community. This foundation, these people, give us hope, community, a shoulder to cry on. They are a safe place. We could not be any more thankful.

I really think that we’re on kind of the forefront of bringing much better treatments to patients with genetic epilepsies, and a lot of this has really come about because of family groups like the Dravet Syndrome Foundation, and the support they’ve led in the research realm.

We are so incredibly grateful for the generosity and assistance of DSF in helping us acquire a special needs stroller for our daughter Samantha. The stroller has been an absolute game changer for us and offers increased freedom and mobility for Sam as well as our family. Thank you again!

Our Deepest Thanks to Our Year End Challenge Fund Donors

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our Year End Challenge Fund donors, each gift you give before December 31 is being doubled up to $30,000, making twice the impact for Dravet families. We are profoundly grateful for your support, which has amplified our efforts to drive life-changing progress in the Dravet community.

Below, we recognize and honor those who joined us in this challenge. Thank you for standing with us in our mission. Together, we are making a difference.

Christine and Michael Angelakis
Mary Jane Wahl Gearns Foundation
David Martin
Aaron and Sara Polatsek
Staci and Zvi Rudawsky
Erin and Robert Scherbinske
Eli Braun and Alyce Thompson