CHRISTMAS SEALS - A TALE OF OUR PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

CHRISTMAS SEALS - A TALE OF OUR PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

Regina, November 4^th“ Christmas Seals have graced parcels, packages, and letters around the world since 1904 when a benevolent postmaster named Einar Holboell of Copenhagen, watched two abandoned, shivering children huddling together for warmth during the Christmas season. He decided to do something to raise funds for the benefit of children with the crippling disease of tuberculosis (TB).  On the world stage the sale of the Christmas Seal marked the turning point in the history of TB as people everywhere joined the fight against this deadly, crippling disease.

Since 1927 when Canada organized its first Christmas Seals campaign, the Lung Association has played a key role in the fight against tuberculosis and has become an international model of tuberculosis control.  Current statistics on TB indicate that tuberculosis kills about 2 million people and infects approximately 8 million people around the world each year.

This year the Lung Association of Saskatchewan will place Christmas Seals in the mailbox of 180,000 households in Saskatchewan with the goal of raising $350,000 to fund research, education and patient support for our residents.  One in four people in Saskatchewan struggle to breathe because they suffer from such respiratory conditions as TB, asthma, sleep apnea, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer.

The Lung Association is the largest non-profit, non-governmental contributor to lung disease research on a global scale.  Our focus on the needs of people with lung disease has helped set the world research agenda and our Saskatchewan researchers are on the leading edge of lung disease treatment and research globally. Since 1998 we have contributed  $120,000 to the Research Center for the Elimination of Tuberculosis in Saskatoon and since 1997 our total allocation to research is over $2,900,000.

We invite you to ˜give the gift of better breathing' to the residents of Saskatchewan this holiday season through your donations.  Please contact us by phone at 1-888-566-LUNG, by making a secure online donation at www.sk.lung.ca/donate or by mail to:

The Lung Association of Saskatchewan, Box 58000, Station Main, Saskatoon, SK, S7K 7Y4. 

For more information from your Lung Association, contact:

When you can't breathe, nothing else matters!