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Chillicothe, IL - Wednesday, June 6, 2001 - Chillicothean Joan Blessington Snyder has once again found herself in the national spotlight. Snyder, who has lived with Parkinson's Disease for the past 11 years, learned last week that she is the winner of the 8th Annual Sidney Dorros Memorial Award. The award is named for noted Parkinson patient advocate Sidney Dorros, who was described as a role model, a fighter and an educator. Snyder received no less than seven nominations for the award. The award recipient is determined by the National Parkinson Foundation, Inc. Criteria for nomination includes, outstanding achievements and contributions during 2000, impact on the lives of others dealing with Parkinson's Disease and impact of disease on own life. In his nomination of Snyder, Dr. Phillip C. Jobe of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria wrote, "Her efforts are hallmarks of achievement. . . In her zeal, Joan works skillfully with Parkinson's Disease support groups, the press, fund raising, community education and awareness. She is a community inspiration. I have never know a lay person to work as diligently, effectively, inspirationally, and tirelessly to alleviate human suffering." Another nomination for Snyder came from John Lester of the Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. As information technology director, Lester has seen first hand how Snyder has helped others with Parkinson's Disease through the online neurology patient support group he manages. "We have over 300,000 active participants from around the world. I first met Joan online and saw her helping other people living with Parkinson's Disease. She offered them words of compassion and hope, and I was immediately impressed with her dedication as an advocate helping raise awareness and offering care to people desperately in need all around the world. . . .giving her this award would send a special message to all people living with PD. A message of hope in that one person can touch the hearts and change the lives of thousands of people for the better." While her outreach advocacy has literally reached around the world, Snyder takes pride in making Chillicothe a "Parkinson's Aware" community. She's currently planning her third Parkinson's Awareness Day with a golf outing July 7 sponsored by the Parkinson's Alliance. On July 8 she is planning a symposium at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. The symposium will, for the first time, bring together Parkinson's patients, family and caregivers with researchers and neurologists for a round-table discussion. "Patients as Providers - A Meeting of the Minds" is hosted by the People Living with Parkinson's (PLWP). Snyder is active on a national level for both groups. This project comes on the heels of the publication of "Voices from the Parking Lot - parkinson's insights and perspectives", a book in which she contributed, compiled and edited. Snyder would like all of her friends to attend the reception in which the Dorros award will be presented to her by Donna Dorros. The reception will be at Shore Acres Park at 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 9. "I am so blessed aren't I ?" asks Snyder. "I look back at my life and my greatest accomplishments have come since I've had PD. My whole life has been preparation." Created & Content by James Volpe 2001 Chillicothe Independent Volume 3 - No. 38 http://www.cinewspaper.com/ Related WebSites: Joan Blessington Snyder http://www.geocities.com/joanbsnyder/ The Dorros Family Home Page http://www.geocities.com/sidneydonnadorros/ Parkinson Alliance http://www.parkinsonalliance.net/ People Living With Parkinson's http://www.plwp.org/ National Parkinson Foundation http://www.parkinson.org/ MGH Neurology WebForums http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi University of Illinois College of Medicine http://dbtsweb.uicomp.uic.edu/phil/ janet paterson: an akinetic rigid subtype, albeit perky, parky . pd: 54/41/37 cd: 54/44/43 tel: 613 256 8340 email: [log in to unmask] . snail mail: 375 Country Street, Apt 301, Almonte, Ontario, Canada, K0A 1A0 . a new voice: the nnnewsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/janet313/ . a new voice: the wwweb site: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/ . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn