 |
 |
National Parkinson Foundation Increases Efforts to Pass Udall Bill The National Parkinson Foundation is pleased to announce the recent employment of Bill Turenne as its Grass Roots Coordinator effective Monday, June 16, 1997. Bill will be working in the offices of Larry Hoffheimer who serves as Washington Counsel to the National Parkinson Foundation. Turenne's principal function will be to help organize the many Parkinson support groups across the country to enlist additional sponsors for the Udall Bill which provides for a significant increase in research funding for Parkinson's disease. Mr. Turenne has worked on Capitol Hill for several Senators and most recently worked to support the grass roots efforts of the Smoker's Alliance in Washington, DC. Bill will be working directly with representatives of all major Parkinson organizations including APDA, PDF, and PAN, to enhance their effectiveness and facilitate better coordination. These organizations have held very productive meetings and conference calls recently. Bill will take a lead role in these efforts. He will receive day-to-day- supervision from Larry Hoffheimer. Jim Cordy, who serves as President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Parkinson Foundation, and a recently elected NPF Board member, will provide directional assignments to Mr. Turenne stemming from Mr. Cordy's leadership of the Udall Coordinating Council, a key group of Udall Bill activists which includes representatives from the major Parkinson organizations. An "800" number has been obtained to facilitate communications. Both Bill and Larry can be reached on this line. It is (888) 331-4NPF. You will also be receiving regular posts from Bill on the Parkinson Listserv as well as other email bulletins, etc. His email address is [log in to unmask] NPF is urging ALL persons interested in the Udall Bill to come to the Udall Public Policy Forum in Washington in July. This is a very important opportunity to lobby in person for the Udall Bill. To demonstrate our commitment, NPF will be sponsoring the travel of several persons who are unable attend for financial reasons. Those persons who are interested in receiving travel assistance should call Bill Turenne. NPF is deeply committed to passage of the Udall Bill this session of Congress and is working with other Parkinson's organizations to increase pressure on the U.S. Congress towards this end. NPF arranged for Muhammad Ali to appear before a Congressional committee as well as his writing personal letters to ALL members of Congress in support of the Udall Bill. We printed and disseminated hundreds of thousands Muhammad Ali post cards in support of the Udall Bill and recently produced a political advocacy instructional video featuring Senator John McCain which urges support groups to lobby for the Udall Bill.