To our community,

At the close of this tumultuous year, there are many reasons to grieve. The coronavirus has taken hundreds of thousands of people before their time. Most of us have had to make peace with historic levels of uncertainty and less in-person human interaction. Some of us are enduring financial hardship.

However, there are also reasons to celebrate. We have met these challenges with the most enlightened characteristics of the human spirit: altruism, resilience, rationalism and hope. We have adjusted to a new reality of working, going to school, supplying our basic needs, and taking care of ourselves and each other.

Science and ingenuity have provided us with a path forward. As I write this, the first wave of healthcare heroes and vulnerable members of our nation are starting to receive a vaccine against this terrible scourge.

At the Family Heart Foundation, we work with scientists, physicians, and nurses. We see the dedication they bring to their profession and some of the personal sacrifices they make in order to prioritize the care of others.

We also work, day in and day out, with people from every walk of life who have been born at high risk for what was, until a week or so ago, the number one cause of illness and death: cardiovascular disease. Our work is to give each person the opportunity to understand his or her own vulnerability and to address it with lipid management, healthy habits, and the resolve to adhere to a treatment regimen year after year.

We know why this is so important. One third of our team has familial hypercholesterolemia, as well as half of our board of directors. Many of us also have inherited a mutation that causes high Lipoprotein(a). We understand what it is like to lose a parent as a child or a child as a parent. We know that you need trustworthy, accurate, up-to-date information about your condition, your treatment options, and trials you can participate in. We know that you worry, and that an informed community supports you and gives you courage to advocate for yourself and your family.

Thank you for being a part of the very community we all need, whether you are a physician, a person with FH, or a family member. Thank you for the time you volunteer, thank you for the funding you provide for our mission, and thank you for the friendships that grow from working together.

Now more than ever, we ask you to give to the cause and support our work.

With heartfelt gratitude from my family to yours,

Katherine Wilemon
Founder & CEO
the Family Heart Foundation

P.S. Each gift given through the end of the year will be matched by the generous support of the Family Heart Foundation’s board of directors, dollar for dollar up to $25,000.