Mi gente,

I have had the opportunity to meet, chat, hang out and even dance with Laura Tellado at the Hispanicize 2012 conference in Miami. She is an amazing soul and a wealth of information about Spina Bifida, something I knew nothing about until I met her. after meeting her and her very supportive parents… I was compelled to delve into her blog and learn more about this condition.

That said… I am proud to be one of the sponsors of this Walk -n- Roll twitter party so that I can learn more about how to support those in my community touched by Spina Bifida, especially since the cases in the Hispanic community seem to be on the rise.

Join me and let’s learn together!

Gracias…

George Torres

Walk-N-Roll Twitter Party for Spina Bifida!

Laura Tellado, known as Laurita by her friends, was born with Spina Bifida in Puerto Rico in 1986 with myelomeningocele, the severest form of spina bifida.  In 1990, her family moved to Orlando, Florida in order to give her the best possible care.

Now, as an adult, Laura is a full-time advocate for Spina Bifida, working to bring a public voice to the cause.  As a 22-year member of the Spina Bifida Association of Central Florida, she’s doing her part to shed light on this condition by raising money for the Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida.

Laura has us and a host of other amazing communities and organizations to help her to raise money online for Team Holdin’ Out for a Hero until October 27th, when we have our Walk-N-Roll event.

Donations can be as small as $5 or as large as $50,000.  Every cent counts and every dollar will go towards supporting families affected by spina bifida in 22 counties in and around the Central Florida region and supporting educational and awareness efforts.

Spina bifida can seem like a daunting challenge for many families, but there is power in numbers and strength in awareness!

Join us for a fun and powerful Twitter Party devoted to raising money and awareness for a cause!

SCROLL DOWN TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TWITTER PARTY

Facts about Spina Bifida

FACT: Each year, about 1,500 babies are born with spina bifida.

FACT: Hispanic women have the highest rate of having a child affected by spina bifida compared with Non-Hispanic White and Non-Hispanic Black women:

• Hispanic:  4.17 per 10,000
• Non-Hispanic Black or African-American:  2.64 per10,000
• Non-Hispanic White:  3.22 per 10,000

FACT: Spina bifida is more common than muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and cystic fibrosis combined.

According to the Spina Bifida Association of America, “spina bifida remains the most commonly occurring birth defect in this country.”

FACT: Doctors recommend that every woman of childbearing age consume 400 micrograms of folic acid daily to help prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida up to 70 percent of the time. In spite of this, there are currently an estimated 166,000people in the U.S. living with spina bifida– up from just 76,000 just last year.

Resources about Spina Bifida

• Living with spina bifida: A personal story on myths and truths
• Latinos with Spina Bifida: It Takes a Pueblo
• Latina on a quest: More people need to know about spina bifida
• Higher risk of spina bifida among children of Latina mothers in the U.S
• Spina Bifida Association - National
• Spina Bifida Association of Central Florida
• Latina Women and Spina Bifida
• Información importante acerca de la Espina Bífida
• Laura’s Spina Bifida Blog – Holdin’ Out for a Hero
• Spina Bifida Advocacy Network on Facebook

Related articles

• What Spina Bifida Awareness Month means to me (realityuncensored.org)
• Harborcreek 6-year-old with spina bifida raises money for Erie Shriners (goerie.com)
• Lyla’s Hope festival raises awareness of spina bifida (republicanherald.com)
• When were the first successful spina bifida operations? (ask.metafilter.com)
• UroMed Sponsors the Spina Bifida Association of Kentucky’s Walk-N-Roll (uromed.com)