Accomplishments of EAWCP/Plans for the 2024 Mardi Gras Gala

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

And welcome to the show, everyone in the United States and around the world. This is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. You all know I live with epilepsy, so this is very, very important to me. And around the world, from Australia to Finland to China to Russia to all of the countries listening to this show, know this: I know that a seizure is a seizure no matter where you live. So know this, I consider you all my brothers and sisters. And to the State Department, thank you, thank you, thank you. Richard Roberts, thank you for your support. Richard is in Brazil. Gang Young Cho is in South Korea. Uh, and all of my friends from Panama, Japan, Indonesia, all of you. The State Department sends me to these countries at the request of the embassy. So know this: the State Department is part of making this successful. And as I said, anywhere I go, any country I go to, I talk about epilepsy. Hey, Yoshiko! Shout out to Yoshiko Dart on every single show, one of my close friends and the wife of the late, great Justin Dart Jr. You know why I do this? I want to remind you that we have a history. People with disabilities have a history. One of the biggest figures is Justin Dart Jr., as now is Judy Heumann. So I just want to keep bringing that to your mind. And hi, Mark. Oh my God, you're so awesome. This company is the lead sponsor of this show and so firmly dedicated to everything I do to help people with disabilities, David Holmberg, Karen Hanlon, Mick Malick, you are all— Deb Reich Johnson. I mean, I could go on and on, but you are all— Larry Kleinman. See, I keep thinking of all of you. You're all so awesome. Thank you so much. And by the way, this is the 20th anniversary of this radio show. Can you believe it? 20 years. 20 years on Voice America.com. And today, two of my favorite people are on, Peggy Bingelli, who's the president and CEO of the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA, and Colleen Fulkerson, who's the special events coordinator. And now that I'm the chair of the board, Peggy, I can say it, we have the best best, best organization in the United States.

Well, I can say it now.

I, I can say it now, although I always believed it, but I can say it now. So Peggy and Colleen, welcome to the show. As you just heard, as you just heard, we have listeners around the world, and what I would hear from them, "Oh, that show was great, but we wish we knew more," whether the person's in Africa or in China where they are English-speaking people. They want to know more about my guests. So would you mind, Peggy, we'll start with you, telling us about you and even how you first came to work at the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA, and then we'll go to you, Colleen. But Peggy, starting with you, go ahead.

Sure. Well, first of all, happy Epilepsy Awareness Month, Joyce. Thank you so much for having us on the show today. I'm always very excited about Epilepsy Awareness Month. I'm always very excited to work on epilepsy awareness, but especially during November when we take the time to bring special attention to epilepsy and epilepsy education. I came to work at the Epilepsy Association almost 30 years ago. It'll be 30 years next month, actually, to work with my predecessor, Judy Painter, who many of your listeners I'm sure have met and will remember working with. Primarily to work on programs and services for individuals who live with epilepsy and seizures, and particularly to work on trying to get some funding for services for people who live with seizures in Pennsylvania. At the time, there was absolutely no funding or recognition of the needs of people with epilepsy within Pennsylvania state budget. And so when I started, that was our number one goal, was to get some sort of specific recognition in the state budget for epilepsy services, which we were able to do. It's still not a lot of money, but at least we have a little bit of money, and there is a line item now in the state budget. So that legislative advocacy was the initial thing that brought me to work on epilepsy services in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, and I sort of quickly realized that there were a lot of individuals and families in Pennsylvania who faced a lot of challenges that weren't being addressed by our existing community service system. Although it's vast and seems massive sometimes, that epilepsy needs often are not addressed by the existing systems that are out there. And so it's always been a challenge to me to try and at least contribute towards trying to get some help to folks who otherwise wouldn't receive any programs and services. So that's what brought me to the epilepsy movement many years ago.

Wow. Yeah, I remember. I just wanted to point something out. Back then, Peggy, could you share with everyone— remember that story you told me about the brown envelopes?

Sure. We— well, when I started, we had actually a lot of people who would call the office and they would be looking for information about seizures and epilepsy and diagnosis and medication and treatments. You know, where can I find a doctor that will really know about epilepsy and all of the kind of traditional patient information and patient education, you know, brochures and those kinds of things that we send out to families. And so many times 30 years ago, not so much anymore, but certainly pretty often 30 years ago, people would say, "When you send that to me, will you not put your return address on the envelope? Can you just send it in a plain brown envelope?" they didn't even want their mailman to know that somebody in their home was living with epilepsy. There was so much stigma and so much negativity attached to epilepsy that they wouldn't even want the mailman to know that they were getting mail from the Epilepsy Association. So we have made some progress, I think, although I think we still have a ways to go. But when I think back to this first days that I, that I worked here, how sad that would make me feel when somebody would say to me that they didn't want to leave their name or they didn't want to leave an address, or if they did, they would say to us, don't put your return address on the envelope if you send me information.

Yeah, that really, uh, that really, that really is sad. But I know that's the way it was. I know that. Yeah. Well, how about you? Uh, and by the way, You mean you started in December?

I did.

I did.

December what? December 6th.

Oh, one day before my birthday. I will never forget this now. Okay, Colleen, it's your turn.

So I have been with the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central Pennsylvania for 21 years. So When you come here, come to work for this organization, we stay for long periods of time. When I came to the organization, I was right out of college. I didn't have a lot of background. I didn't have somebody personally affected by epilepsy, but I had a friend who worked here., and she recruited me, said that they were looking for a special events person, and working with Judy Painter, she made me a fundraiser, and, you know, the families that I have had the opportunity to work with have just been phenomenal. I mean, I have made such tremendous bonds with families. You know, I've watched kids grow up, going from, you know, kindergartners coming to our walk to getting our scholarship and some being campers and now having their own babies. And so, you know, it's just been a wonderful experience for me. And, you know, I feel like I've really become a fundraiser, and this is something that I am very passionate about. And I know that the work that we do in our community is So important.

Boy, Judy made a great decision making you the fundraiser.

Yes, she did.

She made a good choice. Hey, you know what? I have to join back to, to my friends around the world. Okay, Canada, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Germany, China, New Guinea, Australia, Egypt, Ireland, France, the UK, the Dominican Republic, Spain and New Zealand were just this week. These change and they're added to new countries, which is so great. But I just want to mention that Canada— wow, Canada, you have really moved up there in your amount of people listening to the show. So remember what I said, it's Epilepsy Awareness Month. But epilepsy is epilepsy no matter where it is. The difference is the stigma attached and how people react to it. But you know, if you need more information, you can get in touch with me at jbender@benderconsult.com or go to benderconsult.com or voiceamerica.com, and I'll be sure to get the information to Peggy so she can get back with you. So, Peggy, our listeners, what is the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA? Again, for people in Canada or the United Kingdom, so they understand what it is, the size and the areas geographically that you cover here in Pennsylvania.

Sure.

So we are a We are a private nonprofit service organization. We provide public education and supportive services to individuals and families who are affected by epilepsy and seizure disorders. Our primary goals are to improve the quality of life for an individual who's living with epilepsy by working to dispel the myths and the stigma and the misunderstanding that's associated with epilepsy and to provide supportive services that will help to alleviate any burdens that are associated with having epilepsy. So I often tell people that sometimes when folks get in touch with us or when they come to visit our offices, they are in a crisis situation and need help or just need emotional support of some sort. And we try to do what we can to make that support as individualized as possible. So when we talk about supportive services, we're talking about things like providing emergency medication assistance for somebody who possibly is in between jobs and has lost their health insurance. Or, you know, maybe it's a family that has a child or a family member who has intractable epilepsy and seizures that don't— aren't controlled at all and don't stop and just need a break and need to have a nurse or a medical person come into their home and care for their loved one so that they can have some respite care. So it's a little bit different for everybody. We have a lot of different programs that we have found are supportive to folks. We have a program that provides a couple of service animals each year that we're able to place with individuals that help to make them more independent. We have high school scholarship programs for young people who are going on to college or training of some sort after college— I mean, after high school and college. We do a lot of education in the community and in the schools in terms of training teachers and school nurses and bus drivers about what to do if a student is having a seizure. We do classroom presentations, things that just make the school environment safe and welcoming for a student who has epilepsy. So lots of different things that hopefully will make people have a better understanding of epilepsy, of what a seizure is, help work on that stigma, help dispel those myths associated with epilepsy that create that stigma. And also just maybe do something that is helpful to the family. So we kind of try to do whatever it is that that individual person or family need as much as we can individualize it as much as possible. We do summer camp programs in the summertime, things like that. So it— like epilepsy, Being a spectrum disorder affecting folks in many, many different ways, the individual different things that we do are many and on a pretty broad spectrum as well.

And once again, Peggy, that is throughout what part of Western Pennsylvania?

Yeah, so we serve 49 counties in Western and Central Pennsylvania. Basically from a little bit eastern, like Lancaster County and past, a little bit past Harrisburg, all the way east to Erie and all the way north to Erie, about two-thirds, a little over two-thirds of the state. But we've never said no to anybody who called us, Joyce, so. So, if somebody needs help and they give us a call, we really do everything we can to try to find them help.

Well, we want to expand even more. I mentioned to you I'm the chair of the board to our listeners, but you heard the stories that Peggy told you, even about providing respite care or to people who are dealing with, uh, Sue Depp, which is terrible, uh, or kids that are being harassed at school. I mean, I could go on and on, but we need your help. So I don't care what the donation is, but here we are at the end of the year and at the holiday season You know, it's a really hard thing to be in the 7th grade and have a tonic-clonic seizure in the hall between classes or worse yet during, you know, between classes. Terrible. You can't imagine then how that child is treated and is bullied. Just yesterday, Just yesterday I talked to one of my customers who told me when his daughter was a child and she was having seizures, the people did not want to have her over. And their reason would be, you know, if they had a party or something, oh, but what if, uh, she has a seizure? So children, not just adults, but children go through so much. Yeah, so absolutely, to help them we need your help. So Peggy, how does someone donate if they want to make a donation?

Well, they can certainly visit our website, Joyce, and go to the donate button. Our website is www.eawcp.org, and they can always give us a call here at the office. Our 800 number is 1-800-361-5885.

Okay, what's the website again?

www.eawcp.org.

Okay, you heard it. Now you've got to go. You know, many times the show has been on so long that sometimes I'll go somewhere, someone knows me by my voice, which is so amazing when that happens. But people often ask me, hey, what shows are like really a big deal to you? This. I have epilepsy. I almost died. You know, that one seizure changed the rest of my life. This is important to me. This is important. So I don't care what the amount, make a donation. And Peggy, when I talk to people, you know, if you ask people, what is epilepsy? People will look at me and say things like, isn't that that thing where you fall down and like have a convulsion? Or isn't that that thing where you sort of stare off? In other words, they don't know. So I want to know, why do you think that is, Peggy? Also, also, people, if you would go out on the street and ask people, what is SUDEP? The majority of people would say, I have no idea. Why do you think it is that there is so little known by the population at large about epilepsy? And do you think that is out of choice, that the person just doesn't want to know, or the lack of education maybe in the media? What do you think?

You know, I think there's probably a lot of reasons for it, Joyce. I have always felt that the primary reason for it is that people themselves who have epilepsy don't talk about it a lot. Not unlike yourself, I mean, you talk about your epilepsy a lot. You share your story a lot. Most successful people who have epilepsy do not do that. I think some of that is connected to the medical community. Again, when I start— I don't think they continue to do it, but when I first started working with epilepsy, the medical community told patients not to share that information with people. And they did it You know, in part because they were caring for their patients, because people wouldn't get health insurance, they wouldn't get insurance if they were able to drive a car, they wouldn't get life insurance. I mean, discrimination was pretty widespread. So, you know, certainly discrimination in employment was a terrible thing and does still occur. I don't want people to think that it doesn't occur. It certainly does still occur. But so people don't talk about it because they had very good reason to not talk about it for a long time. And, you know, unlike other conditions where, you know, there seems to be an immediate identification with like the celebrity personality, if somebody's diagnosed who's famous, they immediately start to talk about it. We've never had that in the epilepsy community, so I think that contributes to the fact that people don't know what epilepsy is and they don't really identify with it the same way unless there's somebody in their family that they're closely connected to, despite the fact that it's a very, very common condition. 1 in 26 people have epilepsy. You know, if you do start to talk about epilepsy, you very quickly find that people are attached to or associated with somebody who has epilepsy because 1 in 26 people will be diagnosed with epilepsy at some point in their lifetime. And 1 in 10 people will have a seizure. I read an article just this weekend about Brooke Shields having a seizure because of dehydration. It's pretty common for people to have seizures and for people to be diagnosed with epilepsy. So I think there are a lot of reasons for it. I don't understand particularly why people have not been willing to accept the fact that There's lots of different types of seizures other than the fact that people just have not talked about it and have not shared it. So again, because it's a spectrum disorder, lots of people on one end of the spectrum are really fortunate enough to be able to control their seizures with treatment, with medication, and those people certainly don't talk about having epilepsy at all. And on the other end of the spectrum, folks are very severely affected.

Right. And you know what? I didn't have an Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA. Maybe my parents would have realized that when I started fainting when I was a teenager, but no one else in my family did. That that might be different. And then when I went to the dentist, uh, I, I walk in, I was having a tooth extracted. Next thing you know, I wake up. I said, what happened? Oh, you were just afraid. You were afraid. So you— now don't get me wrong, no one likes to go through this, but When this dentist was from way back in the dark ages, and he also believed that he should not use Novocaine.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, goodness.

Not that, not that day, thank God. But what I mean is, I was always afraid of him. That wasn't that I was afraid. That was a seizure. But see, we didn't have anyone to talk to. That's why it's so great that here in Western PA that we have an affiliate to talk to. So, and you know what, if you do have epilepsy, do me a favor, do not say to your child, "Don't tell anyone." Don't do that. Right. Okay? Don't do it. Because you know what you're doing? You're telling that child there is something wrong with them. Right. That's what you're doing. Don't do it. Well, Miss Colleen, the event star of the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA. I am so excited to talk to you about a couple events. First, the Mardi Gras, which is the best event and gala, hands down, in Pittsburgh, which this year is going to be a very special anniversary. And I know you love to talk about the Mardi Gras, Colleen Folkerson. So how about if you share with everyone on what it is, when it is, what that anniversary is. Let's hear it. Let's hear it from you.

I could talk about Mardi Gras for hours. It is absolutely one of my most favorite events. So this is our 30th anniversary of our Mardi Gras Gala, and this is a black-tie fundraising event that honors a corporate community leader as the king and/or queen of Mardi Gras. And this year our Mardi Gras king is, uh, Mr. Jim McQuaid, and he is the president and CEO of Dollar Bank. So he is local here in Pittsburgh, and we are so excited to have him on board. Um, So, our event typically will bring in 600 or 700 guests. And the event is always held on Fat Tuesday. So, it will be on Fat Tuesday, February 13, 2024. It is here in Pittsburgh at the Westin Hotel. And we sell tables for the event. So, this event is primarily corporate sponsored. We do have some individual tickets, so— but all of our sponsorship information is on our website that Peggy shared. That's eawcp.org. So if there is somebody out there that wants to fly to Pennsylvania and come and join us on Fat Tuesday, we would love, love, love to have you. But Pittsburgh in February is not usually a beautiful time outside. It's usually on the colder side and pretty dreary and not great outside. So we transform the Westin into just a colorful explosion of purple, green, and gold. And we try to mirror the celebrations that happen in New Orleans.. And we have street performers. We have jugglers and magicians. We have a Dixieland style band. The event has an open bar and butler-passed hors d'oeuvres. And then once we go into the ballroom, we provide all of our guests with every Mardi Gras need that they would have, all of their accessories, feather boas and beads and masks. And you know, we just want for people to come and have fun. As Peggy said, epilepsy is something that people don't always talk about. So we really celebrate the fact that we can have so many corporate community leaders in the room to raise funds for the association and the work that we do, but to also raise awareness. Each year we have somebody that will speak on behalf of the work that we do. We have a person with epilepsy that will talk, and whether they went to our camp or are scholarship recipients or attend our social and education events, you know, we just want to get the word out on where the money goes, because I know that's always an important question for donors. You know, what do you do there? Where does your money go? So we, you know, have somebody talk about, you know, whether it's our seizure response Dogs program or our movement detection monitor program, just to let people know the work that we are doing and how important it is.

And it is hard to describe how fabulous this gala is. I mean, it's really hard to describe.

Thank you.

It's so real, colorful, fantastic. I'm not kidding you.

And we have a small team But we have just been very, very fortunate to have a lot of wonderful vendors who support us each year, and people that just come together because they believe in the work that we are doing, and they help us to make the event fun for everybody who attends. And that's why this event has lasted for 30 years. I know a lot of times, you know, that's— 30 years is a really long time for an event to stick around, but we have just been so fortunate, and we try and make it fun for all of our attendees. And I've been to so many of the events, but my favorite part is to just kind of stand over to the side as guests come in, and especially if they're a first-time guest, you know, just to see them, you know, see all of the work that we do to make it special for them. Because that's, you know, we want people to have a good time and feel special that night so that they want to come back year after year.

Oh, and people always tell me, this is the best event I go— this is the best event. It's never long. It always hits right on time. People are never forced to stay there. I mean, it is— everything about it is great. And remember where that money is going, to help people who live with epilepsy, adults and children. So, Colleen, how do you go?

So, if you're interested, you can visit our website. Our sponsorship opportunities are on there. There's detailed sponsorship sponsorship opportunities on our website which is EAWCP.org. So if you wanted to buy a whole table, our tables are $5,000. We also have different sponsorship levels, higher sponsorship levels that include a lot more recognition the night of the event. But we do have individual tickets also available for $500 a person. Once you come in the door, we don't do auctions or raffles or anything else. That covers everything. That covers, you know, your drinks, your appetizers. We have a candy buffet, your guest favors. We have a 3-course sit-down dinner. We have the John Parker Band, so we have dancing. So, you know, we always say that we like this night. We really embrace Fat Tuesday, and we want to get out all of your indulgences before you go into Ash Wednesday. So, you know, we have a lot of fun, a lot of great dinner, and, you know, just a lot of fun that goes on that night. And it's all staying local.

That's right. Whatever happens at the Mardi Gras stays at the Mardi Gras. So you may feel free to have a great time and call in What if a company is interested in being a sponsor? What would they do?

So they can go through our website and confirm their sponsorship through the website, or they can also give me a call because I know a lot of companies require more information. They might need a personal letter. They might have an application process that needs to be completed. So they can call me. My name is Colleen, and they can call me at 800-361-5885, and I would be happy to do whatever they need to get their sponsorship confirmed.

And you will get really great care. Colleen is on it. Oh, by the way, wait till you see the way the staff dresses at the Mardi Gras.

That's putting pressure on us. So while the event is a black tie requested, we have many ladies who will attend in either a cocktail dress or a full-length dress, whatever their comfort level is. But when the event started, somebody— I was not here at the time, Peggy was, so maybe we can blame this on her. The event started, the staff were Mardi Gras costumes. So whether that is things with feathers and beads and flappers. I wore a dress one year that was completely made out of balloons. So we work to be very creative and fun and dress in costume. But then when people start talking about it, then I get really anxious. You put the pressure on, Joyce.

That's right, look for Colleen at the Mardi Gras to see her spectacular costume that she will have on. You guys always look great. You do. You always look great. Colleen, since we have you on here, how about the walk?

So each year we host annual run walks. We do a run/walk in Pittsburgh alongside of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and it is a 5K run, 2-mile walk.

Excuse me, best team, best team ever. Go ahead, Carla.

The best team ever is obviously Team Bender.

No, I'm talking about the Pirates.

Oh, well, I'm just talking about the run/walk teams. I love that I have Team Bender there every year to walk with us.

Every year. Remember that year, Peggy? I left vacation in Montana because I didn't want to miss the walk. That shows you how good this walk is, everyone. Colleen, go ahead. I'm sorry I interrupted you.

No problem. No problem. So, you know, our run/walk is complete the other end, whereas Mardi Gras is a corporate-sponsored event. The Run/Walk is really sponsored by families who have a loved one who have been affected by epilepsy. And so the families will put a team together and just share their story. You know, send messages out and say— on the Run/Walk page, they can create their own fundraising page and include photos and personal stories. Because I think a lot of times there are people don't truly understand what a family who has a child with epilepsy is going through. One of my earliest memories of working with a family, a Run Walk family, is their daughter primarily had nocturnal seizures. And so mom and dad slept in shifts every night because somebody wanted, they wanted one of the parents to be by her side in case she had a seizure at night because they were so worried about that. So I can't imagine that strain, that personal strain on them of you sleep from 10 to 2 AM and then I'll sleep from 2 AM to 6 AM or whatever their shift was.. But the families that we have got to meet, and they share their stories and just ask for folks to make a contribution to support their fundraising efforts. Our Run/Walk usually has over 1,000 participants, which is just phenomenal to see. And that day is absolutely full of hugs and high fives. Of seeing families and, you know, it's so exciting when they come to share their story with me of, you know, this is my son or this is my daughter and they have been, you know, seizure-free or they're getting the scholarship or, you know, they're going to college or, you know, whatever accomplishment it is that they are so excited to celebrate, you know. Maybe it's their first year that they finally put a team together after participating just as individuals, but that they put a team together and however many people that they came to run or walk with them. So, the Run/Walk is a 5K run, 2-mile walk. And it starts over at PNC Park if you're familiar with Pittsburgh. We walk over towards Acrisure Stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers play, and then we come back along the Riverwalk which if you know anything about Pittsburgh, our skyline is just absolutely phenomenal. And following the run/walk, we have a tailgate party. So we have pizza and hot dogs and snow cones and chips and pretzels and all things donated by local vendors. So we'll start our registration at 8:00 AM and everybody is out of there by 11:00 AM. So we pack. We have an action-packed morning. We award prizes, fundraising incentive prizes to folks, you know, depending on how much money that they raise. So everybody who is usually at the $30 level will receive an epilepsy awareness t-shirt. And so we just want people to come and, you know, learn more about epilepsy and, you know, really make an impact in our city. And then we host this event also in Harrisburg. So we do the run/walk in Harrisburg as well with the Harrisburg Senators, the minor league baseball team there. So we have a lot going on here in the summer and lots of people running or walking with us. And they— some participate in person, but we still have folks that will be virtual walkers because maybe it's harder to get to Pittsburgh or Harrisburg, or maybe like you said, they were on vacation for the walk, so they used that time to walk, you know, at the beach. They'll make signs that say, you know, walking for epilepsy awareness and take photos and post those. Send those to us, post them on social media, you know, just different ways to raise awareness in the community.

That is so awesome. I love that. I love that. I just love that event. And it was— it's just unbelievable seeing all those people out there, many living with epilepsy or supporting a family member or a friend with epilepsy. It is just absolutely fantastic.

And I love when they make their own shirts. That's always fun to see the photos after of teams that made their own t-shirts and just got so creative that way.

Oh, yes. I love—

And they're just there to celebrate their person with epilepsy and make them feel loved and accepted.

Yes. Yeah, I love that also. EAWCP.org. The most important organization to me is the Bender Leadership Academy. But right after that is the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA. I am on so many boards and I'm so honored to be on them and I do give back, but I got to tell you, this one is so important to me. I hope you'll make a donation, eawcp.org. Hey, it's time for What's Happening at Joyce Bender. Gerald, what's happening at Bender?

Hi Joyce, thanks for letting me call in and I just have to shout out to the Epilepsy Association here because they have the best events here in Pittsburgh. That Mardi Gras is so incredible every year and that walk I've been going to since I was 5 or 6 years old. I would never miss it. So thank you for all the work you do in our community.

Thank you, Gerald. Joyce Bender.

Yeah, no problem. Thank you for all the work you're doing in our community and hosting fun events for me to come to every year. So, and here at Bender, we've got an exciting event coming up next week, which is our Bender Virtual Career Fair for People with Disabilities. This is an opportunity for people with disabilities all over the United States to connect with employers looking to include people with disabilities in opportunities. So we've got employers in the federal government and the private sector all over the U.S. here signed up. We got about 35 employers registered for November 15th, that's next Wednesday, for people with disabilities to connect for opportunities. If you go to benderconsult.com/careers, you can learn all about our Bender Virtual Career Fair. If you're a candidate, it's free to sign up, learn about the job opportunities out there for your role. If you're looking for work right now, or if you're looking for your next opportunity to advance your career, lots of opportunities, so check it out.

Yeah, and you know what, so if you're living with a disability and you're unemployed, this particular career fair Guess what it costs you? Nothing. Nothing. This is to help you find employment. Agencies and companies, if you're listening, it's a small fee for you to be a sponsor and/or for you just to participate so you can hire people with disabilities. But especially people with disabilities listening, make sure you register. One more time, Gerald, where do they go?

JoyceBenderConsult.com/careers to learn more.

You heard it. Make sure you go. Hey, Gerald, thank you for calling in. We're hoping those thousands and thousands of people listening will be at that job fair.

Thanks, Joyce.

You're welcome. And that is a thing, isn't it, Peggy and Colleen? Employment, unemployment.

Absolutely. That sounds like an amazing opportunity. I know we try to share that information with as many people as possible when you have those events, Joyce. That's just an outstanding opportunity for folks.

Yes. Folks, make sure you do that. Don't be discouraged. Some of you I know have been looking and you haven't found anything. Make sure you register for that virtual job fair, which is free to you. Um, Colleen and Peggy, I know we don't have a long time left in the show, but there is one question that I had to ask you, and that is, what do you remember as one of your most memorable things that happened at a Mardi Gras. So, Peggy, starting with you.

Oh my goodness. Well, you know, oh my, most memorable things that happened at a Mardi Gras. Well, Gosh, you know, there are a lot of things that happen at Mardi Gras that are really memorable. I mean, the kings, the honorees all do these entrances that are pretty fabulous and are pretty amazing. But I think the thing that always stands out for me are the people who talk who are affected by epilepsy. And Colleen will probably remember the actual year that this happened, but a number of years ago, we had a young man who spoke whose name was John. And I think he was probably about 17 at the time, 17 or 18 years old at the time. And you know, this is a— as you know, Joyce, this is a big room of people. I mean, these are like there's like 700 people, corporate leaders, adults, you know, everybody's all dressed up. It can be a pretty intimidating room of people to speak. I mean, it can be intimidating to talk in front of a group of 700 people anywhere, but you know, this is a big group of people and, you know, they've got the cameras going and the lights going and the really big light, bright lights that are hard to stand up in front of and And we had asked John if he would talk to the audience and talk about how he had been involved with epilepsy and how he had been involved with the Epilepsy Association over the years. And he put together a really nice speech that was a couple of minutes, maybe 3 or 4 minutes long. And he had come the day before and practiced his speech and knew where he was supposed to stand in his mark. And he had been there that afternoon and set his speech up in a little folder at the podium. And so that night when it was time for him to get up and give his speech, he got up there and somebody had moved his papers. So he got up there to talk and he didn't have his speech anymore. And he never wavered for a moment. And I didn't even realize he didn't have a speech. He just never skipped a beat, stood up there in front of those CEOs and those corporate leaders and gave his speech like a pro. It was one of the most one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. And I just remember thinking like afterwards, I could not have been more proud of anybody in my life than I was of that young man when he got up and talked.

I remember that. I remember that. That was amazing.

That was when we honored Jerry McCleary. Yep.

I remember. I remember. How about you, Colleen? I cannot wait to hear what you have to say.

So I do love— we have had some phenomenal, and they're usually young people, teenagers, early 20s, that have spoke about epilepsy, how epilepsy has impacted their life and how they have worked with the association. And those are always just phenomenal. And each year, I completely agree with Peggy, each year I think that it gets better than the year before. And every year I think, "Wow, if we just had this phenomenal person, what are we going to do for next year?" And we just continue to find just such amazing people who come and talk about epilepsy and just do such a did such a phenomenal job of explaining it to the crowd.

That is—

that's a very loud ballroom, and when these young people speak, you could hear a pin drop because, you know, everybody is just listening to them. They have everyone's attention. But I also am really excited about the fact that the year that we had fireworks in the floral centerpieces, and nobody knew that there were fireworks in there, and they were part of our honoree's entrance. When our honoree Leo Gerard came out and he had, you know, like a handheld sparkler, and then fireworks around the ballroom came out of the floral centerpieces, that was pretty spectacular for me.

Yeah, I remember that also. Yes, I wish we had that again. Did we get in trouble for that, Peggy?

No, no, we didn't get in trouble for it, Joyce. We were pretty careful to coordinate that with the fire marshal and the hotel and all of that, but I don't think they're going to let us do that again. That was pretty complex coordination with the fire systems and there There was a lot that had to go on to make that happen for that, that 3 or 4 minutes. But, but it was great. It was, it was pretty spectacular.

It was really cool.

Well, listen, I know we've come to the end. Boy, time goes so fast when it's people you really, really, really, really like and want to talk about this. Peggy and Colleen, thank you for being with us today. If you've listened and you want to make a contribution, it's eawcp.org. And we end every show with a quote. And today it is, "I never let epilepsy stop my career in the NFL," said Alan Faneca, Hall of Fame. Alan Faneca. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you all next week, and in the words of Mary Brooker, choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11:00 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters, right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.