The mission of the Arthritis Foundation is to improve lives through leadership in the prevention, control and cure of arthritis and related diseases.

Description:
The Arthritis Foundation pursues its mission through a focus on research, public health and public policy. The Foundation helps people with arthritis, their family and firends, as well as doctors and other health care professionals to take control of the disease through patient services, public health information, research, and professional education and training. We are the largest not-for-profit contributor to arthritis research in the world, advancing cutting-edge research with the hopes of finding a cure for arthritis. We aim to increase public awareness of arthritis as the leading cause of disability, prevent arthritis whenever possible, and promote early diagnosis and assistance to access the resources people with arthritis need to cope with their disease. We work at both the national and local level to advance critical legislative policy issues. The Arthritis Foundation uses a variety of events, programs and services to pursue its mission. These include the annual spring Arthritis Walk, the winter Jingle Bell Run,the spring JAM March (Juvenile Arthritis March), the annual spring Arthritis Symposium, the annual CARE Conference (Coalition for Arthritis and Rheumatic Disease Education), Camp MASH (Make Arthritis Stop Hurting) informational meetings (Get the Facts: Arthritis Answers)and awareness-raising meetings (Committment to a Cure Breakfast) through out the year, sponsorship of and training instructors for exercise classes (land and aquatic programs), self-help courses, speakers' bureau, and support groups. We also provide reference publications (Arthritis Today magazine), books and brochures regarding the prevention, diagnosis, control and cure of arthritis and related diseases.

History:
The Arthritis Foundation, founded in 1948, is the only national voluntary non-profit health association that addresses all forms of arthritis and related conditions. The Minnesota Chapter was chartered and incorporated in 1955 to carry out the general mission of the Foundation. In 2000, the Board of Directors agreed to expand our service area by adding North Dakota and South Dakota in addition to Minnesota. As we became a three-state organization, the Chapter changed its name to the Arthritis Foundation North Central Chapter. Volunteers are the core of the Arthritis Foundation. Each year hundreds of volunteers give their time and expertise to facilitate education offerings, fund raising events, and serve on committees that produce our annual events and special projects. The volunteer activities in the Red River Valley region are facilitated by an Arthritis Foundation staff employee (a Fargo-based Community Development Coordinator) and a volunteer working committee known as the Red River Valley Advisory Council.

Contact person: Lisa Metzger, Community Development Coordinator, (701) 388-1988, (email)
Office fax number: (701) 298-8143

Address:

PO Box 1208 Fargo, ND 58107

Web Site: http://www.arthritis.org