'The Sky's The Limit' for Minnesota Man; 100 Skydives in One Day for Parkinson's Disease Awareness and Funding

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/12/prweb574636.htm

On June 4, 2008, Kevin Burkart will complete 100 skydives in one day to raise funds and awareness for the Parkinson Association of Minnesota and the National Parkinson Foundation. Burkart's father has had Parkinson's disease for several years. Contributors can sponsor a jump in honor or memory of someone affected by Parkinson's for a donation of $100 or more.

Savage, MN (PRWEB) December 7, 2007 -- When it comes to helping his father, Gary, in his battle with Parkinson's disease, Kevin Burkart says, "The sky's the limit," he means it literally. On Wednesday, June 4, 2008, Burkart will do 100 skydives in one day to raise money and awareness for Parkinson's Disease. This unique fundraiser, which will benefit the Parkinson Association of Minnesota (PAM) and the National Parkinson Foundation, will take place at Skydive Twin Cities in Baldwin, Wisconsin, 20 miles east of Hudson, Wisconsin.

Photos, video and document downloads are available here: www.perfectjumps.com/downloads

"I see this as an opportunity to do something I love for someone I love," says Burkart, 36, president of StepStoneGroup, a marketing, graphic design and promotions agency based in Savage, Minnesota. He has nearly 700 skydives in his skydiving career, and placed seventh at US Nationals in 2006, competing with a 4-way formation team called Fast Forward. The team won the Open Division of the Northern Plains Skydiving League that same year.

His father, Gary Burkart, of Shell Lake, Wisconsin, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) in July 1999. PD is the second-most common progressive neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than one million Americans. Primary signs of the disease include tremors, muscle rigidity, slowness of movement and poor balance.

Since his dad's diagnosis, both Kevin Burkart and his father have been very involved in efforts to raise money and awareness for PD. He has attended numerous conferences and served on the PAM board of directors for two years. He came up with the idea for The 100 Perfect Jumps in 2007, borrowing the idea from "Jump for the Cause," a skydiving event that raises money for breast cancer research.

For the event, Burkart will use two planes, six skydiving rigs, six parachute packers and a host of logistical volunteers that will assist with ground crew duties. He will exit each plane ride at approximately 2,200 feet doing a jump every 6-8 minutes for 10-12 hours. The day will begin at 6 a.m. and Kevin feels confident he'll meet the 100 jumps goal between 5 and 6 p.m. that day. As for the jumps, Burkart says, "They'd better be perfect!"

The objective of The 100 Perfect Jumps is to net at least $40,000 of proceeds. The steering committee is trying to attract both individual and corporate sponsors to meet this goal. Individual donors can sponsor a jump in honor or in memory of someone with Parkinson's disease for as little as $100. Members of the public are invited to come to the drop site to watch the jumps and take a jump themselves. A portion of the proceeds from jumps that week at the drop zone will go towards The 100 Perfect Jumps fundraiser. There will be food and activities for kids.

To learn more about sponsorship, donations or volunteer efforts, visit www.perfectjumps.com.

Is the sky really the limit?
or do we need as PD patients -need to get ready to have ER staff etc. ask us if we are up to date on our vaccinations???
sincerely,
(the hospital asked me this -last month?)
tena

ONline videos under scrutiny CBS reports -
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n3575660.shtml
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...d=1#post174333

here is proof on youtube -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Vj0EX_STU

ONline videos under scrutiny CBS reports -
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n3575660.shtml
Online Vaccine Videos Under The Microscope

Dec 4, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(WebMD) If you turn to YouTube to get information about immunizations, you may want to keep the findings of a new study in mind.

In February, University of Toronto researchers screened 153 vaccine videos posted on YouTube.

The videos included clips for and against immunization, and some of the videos showed anxious parents or crying babies.

About half of the videos didn't explicitly support immunization: 48% were positive about immunization, 32% were negative, and 20% were ambiguous about vaccines.

Negative videos tended to get higher ratings from YouTube users. But those videos "often contradicted the reference standard," write Jennifer Keelan, PhD, and colleagues.

Keelan's team urges doctors to "be aware of Internet video-sharing sites and be prepared to respond to patients who obtain their health information from these sources."

Doctors and other experts might also consider posting their own videos to communicate health information, Keelan's team suggests.

Their report appears in tomorrow's edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association.


By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.

and now we have the Doctors speaking for the PRESS???
__________________

I'm sure he knows what he is doing when it comes to skydiving, but my daughters each went sky-diving once and it was enough to give me a heart attack.

Hopefully, this does not make his father nervous and I know he means well.

I wish him the best.

paula

i did the tandon jump years ago. was blast for me, but i understand the worry you had paula.

i think it's great he is doing something he enjoys to raise money.

it's dream for many. our own bobbyb who has als recently did a tandom jump. here is a link to pictures.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=33357