International Rest-a-Thon for CFIDS & FMS
On October 25th, people in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK will be taking part in an international Rest-a-Thon. The idea is to raise not only money for research, but awareness in the general public about CFIDS and FMS. Each country has a different research project which it is sponsoring, and the idea is to get as many people as possible involved.
A Rest-a-thon is a day where you ask your friends and family to sponsor you for the number of hours you stay in bed over a 24-hour period. And since the clocks fall back one hour at 2:00am on the 25th of October in North America, that means we actually have a 25-hour period of resting. Anyone can participate, and for those who like to sleep in on a Sunday morning, this is the chance to actually earn money for a worthwhile cause while sleeping. The principle is the same as the school walk-a-thons, run-a-thons, or exercise-a-thons. You sign up sponsors on a card and collect the money when the day is over. Also, private donations are being accepted for each country.
All of the information is explained at the 1998 International Rest-a-Thon Page, and although this is the Canadian page, links to each country are listed on this page. The Chronic Pain Relief Coalition is providing the web site space for the information for Canada, and this site also has a vast amount of useful information for people living with CFIDS and Fibromyalgia. The National ME/FM Action Network is sponsoring the Canadian site, and it is hoped that as many people as possible will participate in a day of rest. All money raised is to go for research, and the organizers are all covering their own costs for overhead and PR, and others who are helping are volunteering their time and energy.
Each one of us can pick the amount of time, and the amount of money that will be given for each hour that we rest in bed. For example, a dollar for each hour spent resting in bed from each sponsor could earn several dollars for research if we have enough sponsors. We can pick the amount of time that we are willing to stay in bed, and frankly, it sounds like the easiest way to make money for research that I can think of. It also will show our families, friends, and neighbors just how important our rest is to us. And if someone tells us to get out of bed, we can tell them that we are doing it to provide money for our condition with the hope that more research will be done.
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