BUENA VISTA WINERY TO HOST 2017 GALA BENEFITING HDSA
Press Release
SONOMA, CA – Buena Vista Winery will be transformed into a Roaring Twenties destination on Saturday, July 1, 2017 when the winery hosts the Great Gatsby Gala to benefit the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA).
With a goal to raise $100,000 to support the HDSA mission, the event will honor Jean-Charles Boisset, Proprietor of Boisset Collection, which owns Buena Vista Winery, and Dr. Laurice Yang, Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University in the Neurology & Neurological Sciences department. Join us in your Gatsby-themed attire to enjoy live entertainment, a delicious dinner and wine pairing, Buena Vista’s classically retro Bubble Lounge and a fantastic silent auction.
To help make this event a success, we need the community’s help. To make donations and purchase tickets please go to: pacificsouthwestreg.hdsa.org/ or contact Natalie Carpenter at 949.542.3907 or ncarpenter@hdsa.org
The HDSA benefits people like Kim Aul, whose personal account of the disease follows.
A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease and my life changed forever. As my husband and I looked up the details of this disease we found the disease to cause progressive brain damage, similar to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and ALS, that will render me unable to walk, talk and reason. My progression started with mild swaying, imbalance and twitching and progressed over three months as I experienced violent whole body chorea. My balance was so poor and my swaying so intense, that I could only stand 10-30 seconds without having to move and I would fall often fall to the couch. Occasionally I would hit accidently myself in the face from the chorea.
I began seeing Dr. Laurice Yang at Stanford University who prescribed Xenazine to help with the chorea that dramatically improved my symptoms. Today I am working part time and walking 2 miles daily.
My family and I have partnered with HDSA to help improve the lives of everyone affected by Huntington’s disease. From community services and education to advocacy and research, HDSA is the world’s leader in providing help for today, and hope for tomorrow, for people with Huntington’s disease and their families.
I cannot thank Dr. Yang and the HDSA profoundly enough.
—Kim Aul
###
About The Huntington’s Disease Society of America
The Huntington’s Disease Society of America is the premier nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of everyone affected by Huntington’s disease, a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. It deteriorates a person’s physical and mental abilities during their prime working years and has no cure and is known as the quintessential family disease because every child of a parent with HD has a 50/50 chance of carrying the faulty gene. Today, there are approximately 30,000 symptomatic Americans and more than 200,000 at-risk of inheriting the disease.
From community services and education to advocacy and research, HDSA is the world’s leader in providing help for today and hope for tomorrow for people with Huntington’s disease and their families.
HDSA’s network of chapters, affiliates, HDSA Centers of Excellence, social workers and support groups provides a seamless connection for help, education and outreach to HD families and health care professionals across the United States.
HDSA was founded in 1968 by Marjorie Guthrie, the wife of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie. Woody died from complications of the disease in 1967 when he was only 55 years old, but the Guthrie family legacy lives on at HDSA to this day.
To learn more about Huntington’s disease and the work of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, visit www.hdsa.org or call (800)345-HDSA.
