Community Events
2024 Warrior of The Year
! 2025 Lets Go !
The May5Foundation and Mays Group have launched “The Amaysing Journey of The Blood Tour" and are teaming up with individuals, corporations ,social, civic and public service organizations to host blood drives and serve as advocates in support of patients with rare blood disease.
We organize blood drives in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Kentucky
We will partner with a blood drive anywhere-in the U.S.
Sickle Cell Disease is the oldest genetic blood disorder in the U.S.
Blood transfusions are critical to SCD patients.
You can help meet the transfusion needs of patients with rare disease by scheduling an appointment to give blood at one of the " Amaysing Journey " blood drives, or by Contacting us at mays5foundation@gmail.com or (337)277-7264.
You can also visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) and mention May5Foundation to schedule your life-saving appointment.
GIVING BLOOD SAVES LIVES
Nationwide there is a shortage of Blood Donations. We need to increase supplies to save lives.
We are currently looking to fill our calendar and we are in need of donors, as well as locations to host our on-site Blood Drives.
On-site blood drives can be held almost anywhere, from churches and businesses to recreation centers, libraries, sorority house, fraternity house, rotary clubs, gyms, etc.
•The space should be a minimum of 1000 square feet to allow set up, staff, supplies and donors.
•Block off time of approximately 2 hours for location
•We provide all necessary equipment and staff
•We operate Monday-Saturday in donated locations
Please help us to fill our calendars with locations and help us to save lives.
Their are many challenges for SCD patients and their families. Sickle Cell Patients remain the forgotten in the rare disorder community, We at the May5Foundation raise awareness, educate, inform, advocate, and support SCD patients and their families throughout the year.
Sickle cell disorders causes your normally round and flexible blood cells to become stiff and sickle shaped, stopping the blood cells, and the oxygen they carry, from being able to move freely around the body and causing pain. This can cause episodes of severe pain. These painful episodes are referred to as sickle cell crisis. They are treated with strong painkillers such as morphine to control the pain.
People with sickle cell are also at risk of complications stroke, acute chest syndrome, blindness, bone damage and priapism.
Over time people with sickle cell can experience damage to organs such as the liver, kidney, lungs, heart and spleen. Death can also result from complications of the disorder.
The May5foundation works within communities to support Warriors, advocate for legislation, educate communities, participate in panel discussion, clinical trials and promote patient care.
Dare To Be Rare
Grief and Loss Camp
With compassionate volunteer staff, specialized activities, and the goal of healing kept foremost in the mind of all involved, we make sure that our "Amaysing Kids" are in an environment of support and love that empowers them to embrace grief and progress towards healing
Our Grief Camps are open to children ages 5-15 and include the following activities ;
^ Outdoor Play & Activities
^Animal Therapy
^Arts & Crafts
^Peer to Peer Sessions
If there is a grieving child in your life that could benefit from Amaysing Camp, please fill out the registration below;
Grief and Loss Camp
Warrior Program
The May5Foundation emphasizes the importance of a diverse blood supply to help meet the needs of those with sickle cell disease – the oldest, and most common inherited blood disorder in the Nation.
Sickle Cell Disease impacts more than 150,000 people across the country, most of whom are of African American descent. Regular blood transfusions are critical to managing extreme pain and life-threatening complications faced by many.
Unfortunately, Warriors may develop an immune response against blood from donors that is not closely matched to their own. Because most individuals who are African American have unique structures on their red blood cells that are not often found in other donor populations, it is important for African American to Donate.
1 in 3 African American blood donors is a match for people with sickle cell disease.
World Sickle Cell Day
From the Desk of Our Founder On Sickle Cell Disease
One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses strength which can overcome adversity.
Most people live in fear of some terrible event changing their lives, the death of a loved one or a serious illness. For those born with inherited disease, this terrible event has already happened, and we have been let in on an amazing secret: We can survive. You adapt, and your life changes, but in the end you fight thru the pain, with whatever compromises you have been forced to make, whatever losses you have been forced to endure. You learn to balance your fears with the simple truth that you must go on fighting and living.
To be a Sickle Cell Warrior means you’re born a fighter.
As Warriors, we fight for ourselves and for each other.
Sickle Cell Awareness is important to increase public knowledge and an understanding of sickle cell disease, and the challenges experienced by patients and their families.
Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease affects about 150,000 African-Americans each year. There are few treatments for it, and not enough is being done to prevent complications. Just recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declined to put in quality measures that might help monitor care improvements.
There is also a question about what role race and wealth play in how much attention and funding the disease receives.
The disease is caused by a gene mutation that leads to red blood cells that are misshapen. These malformed cells have more trouble traveling through blood vessels, and can break or clump in ways that can lead to significant pain, strokes, and tissue or organ damage. Sickle cell disease is not a mild illness. It is probably responsible for up to 16 percent of childhood deaths in the African American community.
The cell malformations were identified more than a century ago. The inheritance patterns were published 100 ago. The first treatment, hydroxyurea, was approved only in 1998. It was the only treatment available for almost 45 years. A second drug, Endari, was approved two years ago.
Stem cell transplants can be curative, but they are very risky and can be performed only when a match is found. They also require lifelong therapy to prevent rejection. Recent news has also hinted at the promise of the gene-editing technology CRISPR to treat sickle cell disease, but only one patient in the United States has been treated so far, and it will be some time before results can show if it can be more widely used.
Moreover, although sickle cell disease is rare, other rare diseases achieve much more attention.
Cystic fibrosis is another inherited disease that reduces life expectancy. In the United States, it’s about one-third as common as sickle cell disease.
As with sickle cell disease, there are no definitive therapies, but a number of recommended actions and screenings can improve life immensely. In 2020 a study published in Blood compared spending on the two diseases by the National Institutes of Health and national foundations.
Studies by NIH shows that research funding per person affected by cystic fibrosis was more than 17 times that of per-person funding for sickle cell disease.
Spending by national foundations for cystic fibrosis was 440 times higher. More than three times as many publications in the peer-reviewed literature focused on cystic fibrosis.
No drugs were approved for sickle cell disease over the study period, while nine were approved for cystic fibrosis.
Cystic fibrosis gets a lot more attention, focus and support because it affects a demographic group with potential resources and other characteristics.
Sickle cell disease often affects the most vulnerable of populations. Around 90 percent are Medicaid-enrolled. Sadly, there is also likely a measure of unconscious and conscious bias toward this population.
It’s impossible to improve quality without being able to measure it. When it comes to sickle cell disease, we seem to be failing to do both.
Emmy Lott is a sickle cell warrior. She is brave and shows us everyday what a true warrior looks and fights like.
She has battled Sickle Cell Disease every day since she was born - first admission at only 5 weeks old. She has had countless admissions, PICU stays, acute chest syndrome, pain crises, etc. She is no stranger to all that this disease brings. Emmy fights through Sickle Cell Disease with bravery and courage and joy in her heart.
We are so proud to honor this brave warrior.
May5 World Day Warrior
Emmy Lott
Mental Health Matters
The May5foundation joins with other mental health professionals and advocates around the region to push for more mental health access to those in underserved communities. We believe that effectively destigmatizing mental health care within minority communities requires shifting harmful media narratives and removing systematic hurdles to access.
We must demand culturally competent care—treatment specifically designed for marginalized populations and led by practitioners who have a firsthand understanding of the unique challenges facing minority communities.
In addition to shifting the cultural narratives surrounding mental health, the practical considerations of cost and access to care must be considered. Lack of insurance and health care costs often make it more challenging for low-income individuals to access needed treatment.
As a nation , we must make meaningful policy changes that will increase mental health care access for people of color so fewer minorities will go without the treatment they need.
A major start in breaking the stigma is emphasizing education by requiring comprehensive mental health education for all K-12 students.
Raising awareness surrounding mental health from a young age, can break stigmas and shape this generation to approach mental health in a new, positive way.
Providing education and resources, and advocating for changes in policy, is how we at the May5foundation make a positive impact in our communities.
Be The Match
For patients with life-threatening blood disorders like leukemia, and sickle cell, some relief exists through a blood stem cell transplant.
May5foundation is helping Be The Match grow its donor registry to help more patients find life-saving donors. If you're between the ages of 18-40, meet the health guidelines, and want to commit to a patient in need, Contact us, or learn more at link below.
