Each year as the leaves begin to fall and the weather gets a few degrees cooler, Peyton Holstein of Lake Oswego, Oregon, along with her older brother, Tobias and four of their cousins, begin researching both local and national charity organizations. While it is easy to assume this is for a school assignment, it’s not. Each cousin is readying their pitch for a unique family Thanksgiving tradition.
Approximately eight years ago, Peyton and Tobias’ great uncle Ron began donating to different charities in the six cousins’ names for Christmas. When the kids were younger, he chose a charity and presented each child with the donation made in their name along with an explanation of how their charitable gift will help the organization. One year it was a donation of goats to a village in Africa that would help provide the village with milk and fertilizer for crops and gardens. Another year after the earthquake in Haiti, it was a gift of water and rice to fulfill the basic needs of a devastated community.
随着孩子们逐渐长大，罗恩叔叔让他们每个人找到自己的事业，并研究这个组织——从一个组织的使命到慈善评级，从每一美元的投资金额到他们打算如何使用这笔捐款，并在家庭感恩节聚会上发表自己的看法。年龄在10 ~ 24岁之间的6个表兄弟互相倾听，进行讨论，进行投票。TheArthritis Foundationwas the overwhelming choice for this year’s donation!
Peyton chose the Arthritis Foundation as her charity at this year’s festivities. And while she shared her research, Peyton also provided a unique perspective – her own – as she was diagnosed with persistent uveitis at nine years old, thenjuvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)less than a year later. Peyton was able to articulate what it is like being a patient – what services she receives,access to careand how each are important and benefit her well-being. She talked about her experience ofgoing to Camp JAMand personal struggles with the disease – much of which had never been shared before.
“这对我们家来说是一件非常特别的事情，也是我叔叔每年都能给孩子们的礼物。佩顿和托拜厄斯的母亲艾莉森说:“除了学习慈善和慈善捐赠外，它还教会他们宝贵的生活技能。”“It is something that brings our family together to educate one another on different issues and needs in our community and beyond.”
When Peyton was first diagnosed with persistent uveitis, she saw a number of specialists throughout the pacific northwest area but never showed signs of JIA through any of the tests that were done. About a year later, Peyton woke up one morning screaming in pain, with her knee completely swollen. After a multitude of tests and blood work, Peyton received a diagnosis of JIA. Now 15, Peyton is active with an Arthritis Foundation partner, theChildhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA)as part of the CARRA Registry and is also heavily involved in JIA research activities.
In living with daily pain and not being able to participate in everything she used to, Peyton often found herself feeling excluded and in a dark place. But through her depression, she discovered music which, as Allison says, “put her head squarely back on her shoulders”. Music provided a much-needed outlet for her in dealing with all of the emotions that come with having a chronic disease. Peyton writes and performs her original songs under her performing name Ash, and spent the last year in Los Angeles, California, to record her first album! TheAsh Music Projectwas recently released oniTunes,Amazonand Spotify.
A huge thank you to Peyton for her support of JIA research, as well as Tobias and their cousins for choosing the Arthritis Foundation as this year’s recipient of their family’s donation. We are incredibly grateful to be a part of such a thoughtful gift this holiday season!
You can also get in the spirit and donate! More than 300,000 kids and teens in the U.S. struggle with arthritis, and your support helps us fund research and provide valuable tools and patient support programs that allow us champion the fight against arthritis.Every ONE, Every DOLLAR makes a difference. Donate today.