The new year brings new plans for DINET!
by Michelle Sawicki

Happy New Year everyone! This is DINET’S biggest year ever! We are in the process of creating a documentary focusing on POTS. Won’t that be amazing? We believe this film will bring greater awareness throughout the world. Some of you have already donated toward this good cause, and we can’t thank you enough!

2008 brings new changes for me as well. If all goes as planned, my family (and DINET headquarters, aka my home office) will be relocating this year. Once moved, I hope to start grad school to work on my master’s degree. All of these changes will keep me incredibly busy. It is time to find that passionate, dedicated person to fill my shoes as DINET’S leader.

So what skills does DINET’S next leader need to possess? First and foremost is a heartfelt desire to help people. We need a leader for whom what he or she can do for others trumps what DINET could do for him or her. Being completely candid here—there are no red carpets, spotlights, or people waiting to pat you on the back just because you’re involved with DINET. Being DINET’S leader might seem a bit thankless and impersonal at times because you rarely meet the people you help face to face.

Be clear on this though, leading DINET is terrifically rewarding! Just perhaps not in all the ways you might guess. Volunteering with DINET lets you help others in significant ways on a daily basis. If you believe in a higher power (and I do), it gives you the satisfaction of knowing you are making a difference in this world and doing something good with your life.

I will forever be grateful for the years that I led DINET. I learned so much about nonprofits, business and even myself. On a personal level, I learned to relax a little and not be so hard on myself when I made mistakes. I also had the opportunity to develop leadership skills, to assist some fabulous people, and to be blessed daily by the help of hardworking, dedicated volunteers.

DINET has been a wonderful experience in my life, but it has not been without challenges. You wouldn’t have wanted to see me banging my head against the wall as I learned how to make a website. But I did it! There were times people complained because the forum was down, the newsletter wasn’t out fast enough, or they did not like a decision I had made. It goes with the territory.

As the leader of DINET, you’ll need to be prepared for heart-wrenching moments as well. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent on the phone soothing crying members who were at their wits end. And yet, imagine the satisfaction in actually making a difference on the day when someone thought there was no difference to be made.

Here is what I think DINET needs:

• Someone with oodles of patience who is not afraid of challenges


• Someone perhaps who is not trying to hold down a full-time job but still wants a ‘job’


• Someone with grant writing experience would be most helpful


• Someone who likes IT or has someone in their life who is good at computers and websites


• Someone with good people skills and good listening skills


• Someone who has a network of supporters who will help him or her succeed in this mission
  
• Someone with excellent writing skills and the ability to research basic medical sites
  

Remember, I didn’t know that I had what it takes to be DINET’s leader...this is a chance to make a tremendous difference in many lives. If you are interested, please email me, Michelle Sawicki, at staff@dinet.org.

C’mon...Pretty Please

DINET did not receive any of the items on our Holiday wish list. Items we still need include the following:

• Laptop
• Print Cartridges, HP 95 & HP 98
• Donations to print more educational brochures
• Flash drives
• Printer paper
• Sharpies
• Paper-clips, white-out and post-its
• Postage stamps
• Mailing envelopes, all sizes

Please keep DINET’s needs in mind this New Year. We need your help! Think about us when you shop for any supplies and pick up extras for us.

We Want You to be a Star!

Help get the word out about how it feels to walk in your footsteps. What is it like to live with your illness? The Dysautonomia Information Network will be featuring member’s pictures in our upcoming documentary. To take part, please send your picture along with your first and last name, age, diagnosis, and signed release form (available at http://www.dinet.org/release.htm) to Alexia Anastasia at worththewords@hotmail.com. You may include a one sentence, personal quote to be included with your picture in the film.

Does your place of business or family give to charity? If so, please let them know about the Dysautonomia Information Network, www.dinet.org. DINET is completely funded by member's donations and can't exist without them. Thank you!

Dysautonomia News is a quarterly publication of the Dysautonomia Information Network.
Subscribe to Dysautonomia News at www.dinet.org/join.htm