HAE Junior patient organization joins the global generosity movement Giving Tuesday, which this year falls on November 30th, 2021. "Stronger than HAE" campaign aims to boost the resilience of parents and children living with rare diseases (including HAE) in their endless fight against the disease.

In December 2021, two years will have passed since HAE Junior patient organization was established at the initiative of several parents of children with hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare type of immunodeficiency. The goal of HAE Junior is to support the youngest patients to enjoy a better quality of life and a brighter future. “We want to raise HAEroes, people stronger than HAE, who can fulfill their life potential in spite of the disease. In many rare disease cases, the illness of the body also has a great impact on the mental health, as well as on the social and economic situation of the patient and his/her family. We are grateful to the Czech experts from all four HAE centers, who significantly contribute to reducing the health burden of the disease for many patient families. At HAE Junior, we complement those efforts by supporting our members to mitigate and remove the remaining barriers caused by the disease. We want to enable all HAE juniors to live a normal life.” comments Camelia Isaic, HAE Junior co-founder. 

Until the beginning of December, HAE Junior will regularly post motivational quotes to boost the resilience of those living with a rare disease on its social media channels on Facebook and Instagram (in Czech) and LinkedIn (in English). As always, everyone can virtually get involved and support a better quality of life of HAE Junior patient families, either by raising awareness, volunteering or making a donation.   

Financial contributions received during Giving Tuesday 2021 will be primarily used for the Educational Family Summer Camp 2022. This is going to be the third edition of HAE Junior’s main patient community project, where patient families and their juniors come together to exchange experience and learn the latest disease-related news. The program usually includes expert lectures, educational activities and HAEro Games during which HAE juniors participate in various personal development and hands-on activities focused on talent discovery and upskilling to better manage life with HAE. In addition, part of the proceeds could be used by the patient organization for future disease awareness and informational projects or campaigns. 

Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 with a simple idea: to create a day that inspires people to do good. In recent years, the idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people around the world to donate, be generous and collaborate. "It's a kind of earlier Christmas. A day when you can help someone and do a good deed. A day when you can support a fundraising initiative, charity project or an organization. A day when you can even improve the life of someone with your kindness and gift, ” adds Lucie Mádlová, founder and director of the Association of Social Responsibility, which has been behind Giving Tuesday in the Czech Republic since 2016.