By some measures, 2014 has been a great year to be a disease. Measles found its way into too many communities, making more people ill in the United States than it had since 1996. Pertussis has been declared an epidemic in some states. And more and more parents are opting to sign an exemption form rather than protect their children and their community from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs).
But 2014 has also seen many victories in the war against preventable disease. Voices for Vaccines was able to get Chili’s to cancel a fundraiser for an anti-vaccine group. We were also part of the effort to encourage The Honest Company to decline an award from an anti-vaccine filmmaker. We’ve connected several parents with the media to make sure the parent story told in our newspapers and on our screens is the story of the 95% of parents who do vaccinate their children.
In 2015, we want to do more. We want to empower parents in every community to change the conversation about vaccines so that when your neighbors and friends and family members take their children in to get vaccines, they will feel confident that immunization is the best and safest choice to ensure their children’s health. We want our lawmakers and leaders to hear the voice that demands that all children be protected from disease and that our policies are crafted to guarantee children’s rights to live in VPD-free communities. We want to make sure that whenever parents are invited to the table to discuss vaccines, that those invited fairly represent parents as a whole–95% of us do vaccinate our children and we deserve to be represented as such.
We really cannot do this without you. Voices for Vaccines can do a lot, but we can do even more with more resources–and we can help you do more, too. Every penny you donate to Voices for Vaccines counts. Every donation helps us send out newsletters, call you to action, and invite parents to the conversation about vaccines. We need your support!
Why do you vaccinate? Help us get your voices heard. Support Voices for Vaccines, and donate today!
This Thanksgiving, after you’ve divided up the turkey leftovers, grabbed your special holiday deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, get ready to do some good. For the first time ever, Voices for Vaccines is launching a Giving Tuesday campaign aimed at raising funds so we can get the voices of pro-vaccine parents and advocates heard.
Help us spread the word by sharing this blog post, our #GivingTuesday video, and our call to join Voices for Vaccines in changing how we discuss immunization.
