A Letter from the President I hope this email finds you well! Walk season is here. My favorite thing about the Illinois Lupus Walks is catching up with the participants and volunteers every year. We saw 300 supporters at the Western Suburbs Lupus Walk on August 10th and we hope to see even more of you at the Chicago Lupus Walk & Fun Run on Sunday, September 15th. Walks are so important for many reasons; walks are a great introduction to lupus and the LSI. We have met many lupus warriors for the first time at lupus walks. Participants can build their own lupus network by surrounding themselves with the lupus community. And, funds raised through the walks are instrumental in continuing our mission, like educational events and financial assistance grants. We hope you'll join us 2 weeks from Sunday for the Chicago Lupus Walk - we have an awesome raffle, face painting, kid's activities, team t-shirt contest and much more! LSi has a team in the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. We've had a team in this event since 2007. This year, 36 runners who have worked so hard will join over 45,000 runners on October 13th as they take on 26.2 miles in support of lupus and LSI's mission. If you get a chance, take a look at the event page and read some of the stories. A huge thank you to all of our runners - past and present - for their outstanding commitment to our mission! LSI's Support Group Leaders are amazing and we are so grateful to have them as part of our lupus family. If you're interested in finding out more about support groups, contact lisa@lupusil.org. The Lupus Spoons support group just celebrated its 5th anniversary earlier this year. Thanks to Mari for sharing photos from the celebration and thanks to all of our support group leaders for their continued support and hard work. Together we make a difference. Mary | 
