Help Build a COPD Movement!
Most Americans, including our elected leaders, know nothing about COPD. We have an opportunity to change that, but need your help.
By sharing your personal story of living with COPD, or caring for someone with COPD, you can help us raise awareness, improve care and secure greater government research funding. Unless we speak up as a community, and share our personal stories, COPD will continue to be overshadowed by other, more vocal, diseases.
That’s why we’ve launched Operation 435. Our goal is to educate all 435 members of Congress and all 100 Senators about COPD. We also want them to support our efforts to find a cure for COPD, improve current treatments and access to care, and stop discrimination against people with the disease. But we need your help! The only way Congress will ever make COPD a priority is if YOU and the 24 million Americans with COPD take action.
Here are four ways you can help right now!
(1) Sign the Stop COPD! Petition – The COPD Foundation is trying to collect 10,000 names on our petition and then deliver them to elected officials across the country. We believe this will show them that a lot of people care about COPD and want something done about it! You can add your name by clicking on the image above or by following this link. Please pass the word along to your friends, family members, coworkers and others in your community. The more people that add their name, the more successful we’ll be! Please contact Jamie Lamson, Public Policy and Advocacy Manager, at if you have questions or ideas on how to make this effort a succcess.
(2) Take Action! – Visit the COPD Action Center and educate your elected officials about COPD. We’ve created pre-written emails you can send to your Governor, President Obama, Congress and your state legislature. You can also write your local media, get the name and contact information of your elected officials, and sign up to receive our FREE advocacy newsletter. By taking action on important issues today, you can help us build a better world for tomorrow.
(3) Volunteer! – We need volunteers who can work with people with COPD in their community. We need at least 50 volunteers who will call COPD Foundation members in their area and ask them to get involved. For example, we’d like volunteers to call people and ask them to sign a petition, make a call or send an email to an elected official. We’ll provide names, telephone numbers and a script to use when calling. No fundraising is involved, but we ask that you volunteer for at least 3 hours a week. To sign up, or for more information, contact Jamie Lamson at .
(4) Join our Facebook Group – More than 1,500 people have already joined our Facebook Group. By joining, you’ll get updates on the Foundation’s efforts and connect with other people that care about COPD. Facebook is free, fun and a great way to start building a national COPD movement!
In the coming weeks and months, we will have other ways for you to spread the word about COPD. Only if we work together can we make a difference.