By Janisha Nathu.
Living with a life-shortening disease can be overwhelming and scary. MND NZ is the only nationwide organisation that provides emotional, social, and practical support, as well as equipment and education, for individuals living with a Motor Neurone Disease in New Zealand and their carers and families.
Our little country has one of the highest known rates of MND diagnosis in the world and there is no known cure or concrete reason as to why it occurs. This is why the need for research, advocacy, and education is an important facet of what MND NZ does and supports.
MND is the collective name for illnesses that affect an individual’s nerve cells, impacting how they speak, swallow, breathe, and move.
About one in 15,000 people — currently 300 people in New Zealand — are living with MND, and MND will cause the deaths of two people in New Zealand every week.
MND can affect adults at any age, but the highest incidence is between the ages of 50 and 70, and it affects slightly more men than women. In about 90% of cases there is no known family history.
Sarah Torah, the Communications Manager at MND NZ, says their clients see the support they receive from MND NZ as a life jacket. It allows them to enjoy the time they have left with their family, and to live with more ease.
“The clients inspire us every day to live and create memories…these are real people…everything you do is for a good person and a good cause.”
Each donation made to MND NZ helps cover operational costs, spread awareness, and aid in supporting research, as there is no current understanding as to why these diseases occur.
MND NZ is making a meaningful difference in the lives of their clients and every little bit does help.
To find out more about MND NZ, check out their website, or if you would like a simple way to help out with the life-changing work, you can do that here at The Good Registry .
We have created two simple ways to give and the gift of giving through our website:
- Create your own Good Registry for a special event (e.g. a wedding or a birthday) and ask friends to donate to a charity you choose, instead of buying gifts.
- Give Good Gift Cards instead of traditional gifts, to enable others to make donations to charities they care about.
You can hear from people who have used Good Registries and Good Gift Cards to help charities like MND New Zealand, on our inspirational Giving Wall.
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