Two weeks ago, on January 14, 2018, OMF received a $1 million donation from the Pineapple Fund to “accelerate much-needed research for ME/CFS and related chronic complex diseases.”
The Pineapple Fund was so moved by the outpouring of appreciation from our US and international OMF family, that today they have increased their commitment with an additional $4 million donation through bitcoin to bring their total support to $5 million! Linda Tannenbaum, OMF CEO/President, believes the additional donation was made in response to the overwhelming gratitude expressed by the patient community on Reddit and other social media.
OMF has received thousands of likes and comments on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Patients and family members have been moved to tears by this exciting news. Here are two examples of the heartfelt gratitude:
“Thank you for giving hope to people suffering with this disease. My son has had it for about 10 years, most of that time it was not recognized as an illness, let alone a serious one. A life full of exhaustion and pain may come to an end soon for him and other sufferers.” Ann W.
“Thank you, Pineapple Fund, for seeing beyond the cloak of invisibility laid upon this horrid illness and recognizing the desperate need. The hope this provides is palpable.” Liane B.
This additional funding will drive research already underway in several key areas: creating a diagnostic test for ME/CFS; scaling up patient data analysis; accelerating the development of new technology to identify treatment options; and ultimately, research towards a cure.
Expressing support for the work of OMF, “Pine” from the Pineapple Fund said in a recent message: “I had known about ME/CFS for a while, and I know it is a serious condition without much in the way of treatment or research. I’ve recently received letters of support from esteemed academics in the field strongly supporting OMF, and that helped me make the decision!”
We are tremendously grateful to the Pineapple Fund for igniting OMF’s research and delivering hope!