History of the #LightItUp4HD Campaign
Huntington Disease (HD) Awareness Month is held in May of each year. It is a time for those within the HD community to shed light on this devastating disease and the direct impact it has on approximately 1 in 7,000 individuals living within Canada and the additional 1 in 5500 who are at-risk for HD.
In 2015, James W. – an HD community member – was instrumental in securing the CN Tower as a #LightItUp4HD site during HD awareness month to raise the visibility of Juvenile HD (in purple) and HD (in blue). When the sun set on May 4 that year, hundreds of thousands of Canadians saw the CN Tower lit up in purple and blue. And our HD community lit up with pride.
From there, the #LightItUp for HD campaign has grown into a world-wide phenomenon. In 2019, 10 countries around the world participated by having national monuments, statues, buildings, towers and other infrastructure light up in blue and/or purple.
But, in addition to infrastructure being lit up, volunteers across Canada now work with local mayors, who make proclamations to declare May as HD month in their community. Some municipalities even hold flag-raisings where the HSC logo is flown for a set period of time during the month of May, and members of the HD community join the gathering. Prior to the beginning of the month, HSC sends out national news releases and in general you may notice news segments and articles to raise awareness as well as money for HD research and family support services.
To learn more about 2021 plans, click here.
To see what happened in 2020, click here.
