Rylee's Walk for S.T.O.P.
**UPDATE: I completed a 4 mile walk on November 6th for this fundraiser. You can still make a donation - it's not too late! Thank you to everyone who made a donation, and to everyone who continues to show support for me and this imporant cause in other ways.**
Four years ago I ate spinach that was contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. I guess you could say I was lucky because I only spent 35 days in the hospital with kidney failure, excruciating abdominal pain, and swelling in my brain and around my heart. Everyday 14 people are not as lucky as I am; they will die from something they ate. Through Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.), over the past two years I have met many people who were sickened or lost a loved one from the same spinach outbreak that made me sick, as well as others who became ill from other pathogens like listeria, salmonella, campylobacter, and vibrio.
My experience with foodborne illness has made me think differently about the foods I eat. Before I became sick, I thought all the food in the store was safe. Now I know that the FDA only inspects food processing plants about once every ten years because there aren't enough inspectors to do the job, and it doesn't even have the authority to make a company recall an unsafe or contaminated product.
On November 6, 2010, I will walk to support S.T.O.P. and its mission to raise awareness of the dangers of foodborne illness and provide assistance to victims and their families. Last year, my goal was to raise $5,000 for S.T.O.P. with the “Rylee Goes to Washington” campaign (
http://www.firstgiving.com/ryleegoestowashington).
With the help my family and friends, together we raised $3,855. Please help me cross the finish line and reach my original goal, I only need $1,200 to get there! I am going to walk at least 4 miles, so it will be one mile for every $300 donated – even if that means I have to walk 10 miles!
Thank you!
Rylee
P.S. Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. Please forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate to this cause too.