The NSTA hosts two major fundraisers annually to raise funds and spread awareness of cervical dystonia. One fundraiser is in the form of a 5k Walk/Run called the Zent-A-Thon that is held together with the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder Foundation (PMDF, www.pmdf.org). The other fundraiser involves NSTA joining a dozen non-profit food booths at the Fountain Valley, California summer festival. The NSTA has hosted these two fundraisers for the past couple of years with great success and I am happy to report that this is the case again for 2016!

Zent-A Thon – 5K Walk/Run Fundraiser
Saturday, May 21, 2016

On Saturday, May 21, the NSTA and PMDF held the Zent-A Thon – 5K Walk/Run fundraiser at Mile Square Park. Hosting this event around the same time every year has promised good weather. The morning was cool fifty-seven degrees accompanied with a slight breeze. There was a slight overcast that burnt off around 11am that enabled everyone to keep cool during the walk/run and enjoyed the sun during lunch. Many of people who attended the Zent-A-Thon fundraiser in past years returned to participate in the event. It was also great to meet some new people and see new faces. Over seventy people were registered. It was really nice to see more people bring their family and friends. Noticeably, there were a lot more children in attendance which made it all the more enjoyable for all.

After everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by Katella Deli, we announced the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. First place was won by a young lady that was awarded two Park Hopper Tickets to Disneyland. Interestingly, she is the same person who won 1st place last year, Madeline Fox. Her long distance running must been a hereditary trait passed down from her mother as Madeline’s mother won second place and received the TRX Suspension Training Pro Pack. The third place winner went to a young gentleman who attended the event with his family and received a $100 Macys Gift Card. Registered attendees were automatically entered in the raffle draw. Raffle Prizes Included gift cards from Katella Deli Gift Card, Amazon Gift Card, Target Gift Card. There were a total of twelve raffle winners who took home a prize just for attending.

We thank all the people who volunteered to help us make this event a success. Dorothy Tran and Andy Nguyen woke up early Saturday morning to help me and Vi load up the vehicles at the NSTA office and set up all the equipment and supplies at Mile Square Park. Andy took on the job of painstakingly marking the 5K path with flags so participants know what the route is. We would like to thank Tiffany Niedert, Joseph (Tiffany’s nephew) and Debbie Wilson for helping us check in people at that registration booth. We also thank all the attendees that volunteered on the spot to help take the tents down, pack up everything and load it back in the vehicles. After a couple of years of hosting the 5K walk/run, it started to feel like a family event where everyone pitches in to make it a huge success.

Together with the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder Foundation, we were able to secure seven sponsors. We thank AbbVie, Avanir, Impax, LivHome and U.S. WorldMeds for supporting the missions of the NSTA and PMDF. Their contributions helped us make this event a huge success! Lastly, we would like to thank Allan Ratman, a close friend of the NSTA. As you may be aware from the other events we host, Allan is owner of the well-known and successful restaurant Katella Deli here in So Cal. For so many years, he has been an active supporter of the NSTA and our programs. He has helped us with fundraisers and support group meetings by either providing seed money or catering. The sponsorship received together with the attendee registrations made it our most successful Zent-A- Thon fundraiser to date. The NSTA and PMDF made over $15,000 that Saturday which will help support both organizations.

We are thankful to everyone who participated for attending and look forward to hosting another Zent-A-Thon – 5K Walk/Run in 2017!

Fountain Valley Summerfest Food Booth
Friday, Saturday & Sunday June 24-26, 2016

The Fountain Valley Summerfest Committee, in partnership with the City of Fountain Valley, California hosted its annual community celebration called “Fountain Valley Summerfest” on June 23-26, 2016 at the Fountain Valley Sports Park at Brookhurst and Heil. The 4-day celebration included carnival rides, game booths, local entertainment, exhibitors, non-profit organizations’ food booths, live music, beer/wine garden, Live Sports Tent, and a Classic Car & Truck Show.

The NSTA participated as one of twelve non-profit groups managing a food booth for three days at the event. NSTA, sponsored by Katella Deli, sold Honey BBQ chicken wings, Wings and Waffles, and Macarons to Summerfest attendees for three days. Thousands of people attend Fountain Valley Summerfest which gives us an opportunity to raise funds and promote awareness of cervical dystonia and let the community know what the NSTA is all about.

We would like to thank again, our friend Allan Ratman, owner of Katella Deli in Los Alamitos, California. Allan donated the chicken, macarons, and lent us some equipments and supplies. Vi and leaned a lot from Allan in terms of how to handle the food and how to prepare for this event. Vi and I have the highest respect for Allan and thank him for his support and sharing his experience and expertise so that we would have a successful fundraiser. We also want to thank the volunteers that helped us out. Once again, Andy Nguyen and Dorothy Tran came out to assist and provide support by taking orders and serving the food to our customers. NSTA members and Fountain Valley group attendees Tiffany Neidert and close friend Peggi Fergusson also joined us on Saturday to help us take orders. It was really nice working together with Tiffany and Peggi and it gave us some time to catch up. We provided business card size information with the food we served. The cards provided information on cervical dystonia. Customers would ask about our organizations and want to know more about this movement disorder. The fundraiser was great opportunity to spread awareness about a condition most people in the general public do not know exists.
It was a grueling three days of fundraiser with eighteen hour days and almost no sleep. Vi and I are happy with the outcome. The NSTA managed to make roughly over $8,000 in sales and donations. At the same time, we were able to spread awareness of ST and dystonia to the attendees at Summerfest. Hopefully the information we provided will help someone they may know or meet that display symptoms of spasmodic torticollis.