Now in our fifth year, the Peggy Lillis Foundation is more committed than ever to building a world where clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) are rare, treatable and survivable. As we close 2o14, we are proud of all that we have accomplished over the past 12 months. We are grateful to everyone who supported our work whether financially or as a volunteer. None of what we do would be possible without the moral and financial support of our friends, donors, National Advisory Council, Gala Committee and many others.

Our full list of accomplishments can be requested, but we are particularly excited about these 5:

1. PLF’s Strategic Plan. In February we unveiled our new strategic plan, Educating Nationally | Advocating Locally. This plan comprises a diverse set of educational and advocacy goals for the next three years, as well as a more refined mission and vision. Our new vision, “a world where C. diff is rare, treatable, and survivable” serves as our “North Star” as we pursue our new mission, “building a nationwide C. diff awareness movement by educating the public, empowering advocates and shaping policy.”
2. New brochure. In partnership with Cubist, we produced a new brochure, Clostridium difficile: An Urgent Public Health Threat, containing accessible information on C. diff and related issues. The brochure is available as a PDF and printed versions will be available for order in January 2015.
3. Calling attention to the 17,000 children who suffer from C. diff every year. The CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog featured “C. diff in Our Kids: A Call to Action” written by our executive director, highlighting the CDC’s paper on C. diff infections in children that found 17,000 kids contract the disease every year. We also highlighted two specific stories of children who survived C. diff: Anthony, Molly and Vince & Ava.
4. Peggy’s story highlighted by the CDC director. CDC Director Thomas Frieden invited our executive director to attend his speech on antibiotic resistant bacteria at the National Press Club. Dr. Frieden shared Peggy’s story to illustrate the harm antibiotic resistant bacteria causes. (Peggy is mentioned at 16:25 in the linked video.)
5. Building PLF’s capacity. We built amazing partnerships throughout 2014, leading to increased awareness of the Foundation, our work to combat C. diff and, most importantly, increasing our education and advocacy efforts. From the first annual Judy Dexter Memorial Picnic to our 5th Annual (and most successful!) FIGHT C. DIFF Gala to receiving our largest grant ever – $25,000 from Cubist Pharmaceuticals to support educational materials, this year was incredible.

We extend our deepest thanks to all of our friends, family members, donors, and supporters who have made these accomplishments possible. Through your compassion and dedication, we are able to succeed and continue our work building a world where C. diff is rare, treatable, and survivable.