Tay-Sachs is a genetic disorder in children that is fatal, and causes a gradual breakdown in an individual's nervous system. A child who has it will appear healthy at birth and will develop at a normal rate until they're about six months old. Sadly, by the time most children with tay-sachs are two, they experience recurring seizures and diminishing mental functions. Instead of continuing to grow and mature, the child regresses, and loses their skills one by one, until they are eventually unable to crawl, sit, turn over, or reach out. Before the child dies, they become blind, mentally retarded, paralyzed, and unresponsive to their environment. As of yet, there is no cure or even effective treatment for children born with the disease. The disease is, however, preventable. But unfortunately children are still born with it, and still die, every year.

Our friend, ~five, is handling this fundraiser and hopes you'll all help, as he explains below:

Last year, I found out about the disease from one of my teachers, who's daughter had died of the disease. It receives nowhere near as much media attention as other diseases such as Cancer and AIDS do, and I decided to run in a fundraiser for the event put on by the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association, or NSTAD. I started promoting the event as much as I could, and I eventually raised over $500 (Canadian) to help fight the illness. On (Canadian) Thanksgiving, the 5 kilometer run took place.

My goal this year is to raise $1000 Canadian (around $700 American) or more. You can check out this page for more information, or to see how close I am to raising my goal.

I would love it if all deviantART users could dig deep to help me out. Even a few dollars helps; I'm not asking for anything extravagant. Last year though, over half of my donations came from deviants, and I hope that that can happen again. Thanks to everyone in advance.