Awareness Activities:

DDNC (Digestive Diseases National Coalition) lobbying event in Washington, DC

On March 7-8, G-PACT will once again participate in the Digestive Diseases National Coalition (DDNC). This event takes place in Washington, DC at the Phoenix Park Hotel. As members, G-PACT has the opportunity to attend the annual board meeting and represent gastric motility disorders and our organization on Sunday morning.

The event starts at 1 PM on Sunday afternoon. The first day involves a conference which brings in a number of physicians, government officials, and others to speak on various conditions. DDNC officials present the agenda that they have for the event and the goals they are trying to accomplish in the upcoming year. The conference ends at 5 PM, followed by a reception in the hotel where the event is held.

Monday is a full day starting at 8 AM with breakfast in the hotel, also provided by the DDNC. After that, each person is grouped together based on state(s) and given a list of senators and representatives we will be visiting. The morning includes visits to three senators. It is followed by a luncheon at noon in which Senator Bob Casey from PA will be honored this year. At 1:30 the luncheon concludes and visits to three different representatives begins. There is a debriefing at 4 PM.

G-PACT has the opportunity this year to specifically meet with an aid of Senator John McCain. (More Info) We have already changed the minds of members of the FDA and blown them away by sharing our stories, and this is an incredible opportunity to impact a very influential Senator as well. Only G-PACT board members will be involved in this part, but ALL patients, caregivers, family, and friends are welcome to attend the DDNC and go around with others from your state(s) and share your stories, our goals and reasons for being there, and what the needs of gastric motility patients are!

The more people we have, the greater impact we make! Last year we were highly represented and that made quite an impression on the DDNC. We need as many people from as many different states as possible so we are widely represented. We are particularly looking for people from PA this year since Bob Casey is this years honoree, but everyone is invited!

For those of you on home infusion or who are concerned about making the days physically, Dr. Kevin Olden, a physician with whom we work closely, is providing us with an infusion nurse to be available to help in case anyone has a physical problem while there. G-PACT will also work on accommodations in traveling from building to building as much as possible for those who have difficulty with a lot of walking or are in wheelchairs.

Please go to the DDNC website at http://www.ddnc.org for more information and to register for the event. After registering, please be sure to e-mail us at contact@g-pact.org to let us know you are coming so we can plan efficiently and ensure that we have enough materials with us to distribute. Please remember to list G-PACT as the organization you are representing. We will provide all groups with copies of our educational materials to leave with each senator and representative and will meet together on Sunday or Monday morning to discuss our agenda and what we want to express with each government official.


Other Awareness Activities