Get Involved
The National MALS Foundation is run by MALS patients and family members, and funded solely by donations from individuals around the country who care about making sure MALS patients are supported and clinicians are educated about this rare syndrome. All outreach, education, and fundraising is carried out by volunteers! We have a modest budget but a mighty mission. We hope you will help us in any way you can.
Click on the links below to see how you can help support our mission:
Get Involved
The National MALS Foundation is run by MALS patients and family members, and funded solely by donations from individuals around the country who care about making sure MALS patients are supported and clinicians are educated about this rare syndrome. All outreach, education, and fundraising is carried out by volunteers! We have a modest budget but a mighty mission. We hope you will help us in any way you can.
Click on the links below to see how you can help support our mission:
Join Us
We are looking for some volunteers and board members to help out at the National MALS Foundation. We are taking applications to join our team! We hope to be able to find people who are just as enthusiastic about helping MALS patients as our board is.
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We are looking for people who are associated with MALS. So we are strictly looking for people who either have MALS themselves or have been a Caregiver of a MALS patient. We want those who apply to be passionate about MALS as our foundation is a labor of love.
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If you are interested and would like to be considered, please fill out this form.
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We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis.
Donate
Every dollar donated to the National MALS Foundation goes directly to sustain our work of supporting patients and educating clinicians. We have no paid staff. But we do have essential annual expenses such as maintaining this website. And, we do have a bold vision for what we can accomplish in the future, such as funding for ongoing research and creating an international conference that will bring together vascular experts and clinicians from other related fields.
Help us with our mission today AND help us dream big for tomorrow. Help us bring awareness and quicker diagnosis to countless patients around the world.
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If you’d like to make a donation by check, please make it payable to National MALS Foundation
Mail to National MALS Foundation, P.O. Box 1292, Dedham, MA 02027
“One Million Steps for MALS”
When you suffer from MALS even walking slowly can become a challenge. Lack of nutrition causes your body’s muscles to break down. Lack of blood flow causes lightheadedness, dizziness, and sometimes fainting. But more acutely, the compression of the celiac artery causes more pain when you inhale and exhale deeply. Many MALS patients are forced to stop exercising, and some become bedridden.
In addition, dealing with unexplained symptoms and a rare diagnosis that is often one of exclusion can feel like an endless marathon. We find that patients often spend months and years going from one test to another without resolution or understanding from their clinicians. Often our mentoring focuses on taking one step at a time toward getting a MALS diagnosis, and then another long series of steps to finding the right MALS surgeon.
Getting from rare symptoms to ultimate surgery can feel like taking a Million Steps. Certainly, with MALS, running a 5K would be unthinkable. But each of us—patient and family member—can take one step at a time.
In this spirit, we hope you will consider organizing a MALS fundraiser in your community. Named “One Million Steps for MALS” the walking based fundraiser endeavors to have 500 people nationwide each year walking to raise money for MALS.
Here’s how the math works:
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One Million Steps for MALS
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10,000 steps equal 5 miles
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10 participants can walk 100,000 steps in an afternoon
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50 participants can walk 500,000 steps in an afternoon
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Sponsorship of $.10 per step is $1,000! Or $.01 per step is $100! It all adds up.
Just a few community events can secure One Million Steps for MALS, and the funds raised can benefit countless patients nationwide. If each participant secures sponsorship for their walk it will raise essential money toward MALS outreach.
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A brisk walker can walk 5 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes
A slower walker can walk 5 miles in as little as 2 hours
With friends and community surrounding you, time melts away!
