THE SWEETEST SMILE: Molly Kate smiles with her parents Jarrod and Sarah Heath.

To the Editor:

October 5th is a special day for our family as we celebrate Pause for The GFPD, the annual awareness day of The Global Foundation for Peroxisomal Disorders (GFPD). I invite the Tifton Gazette readership to join our family and PAUSE for families impacted by peroxisomal disorders in more than 40 countries around the world.

Our daughter, Molly Kate, is almost 2 years old and is one of fewer than 1,000 children living worldwide with a peroxisomal biogenesis disorder in the Zellweger spectrum (PBD ZSD). PBD-ZSD is a rare, genetic condition affecting multiple organ systems in the body, and is generally fatal in childhood. Molly Kate is a happy, strong, and sassy warrior. She has remained all smiles and laughs through all the travels to doctor visits and test after test. At the age of almost two, she has already spent time traveling to our nation’s capital to join other parents and Individuals affected by rare disease to advocate for legislation that affects our everyday lives and continues to push forward towards a cure!

Pause for The GFPD is a day that brings our family hope. The GFPD is a 501©(3) nonprofit public charity founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2010 to support families affected by peroxisomal disorders and to directly fund medical research.

On October 5th, we are celebrating all that the GFPD has accomplished in the last 13 years in moving towards a cure for peroxisomal disorders. Most importantly, Pause for The GFPD celebrates the beautiful children affected by this rare, terminal condition. We invite you to help the GFPD – and our global community of patients, families, caregivers, scientists, and medical professionals – raise awareness about the need for treatments and cures for this rare, genetic, and terminal disease.

Raising public awareness makes a difference. It gives families hope and can lead to new, life saving treatments. I encourage everyone reading this to get involved by visiting the GFPD website: http://www.thegfpd.org, or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter @thegfpd to learn about Pause for The GFPD celebrations in your area, ways you can help make a difference, and to learn more about the groundbreaking work the GFPD is doing around the world.

Sincerely,

Jarrod and Sarah Heath

Lenox, Ga.