A quick update on our fundraiser. Our current total is $83,822 from 285 donors. All pledges are being doubled until we reach $84,322 and when we reach 300 donors (just 15 donations from now) we will receive another pledge of $1,000 and again at 400 and 500 donors. If we can reach our mini-goal of $100,000 by Christmas Eve we will receive another pledge of $4,000 and another of $1,000. Donation details are below.
Inspired by Lev
As hosts of these FAN fundraisers over several years we have been privileged to receive many moving and beautiful emails and letters but none more so than this one, which we received yesterday:
Why I Do It…
When my son Lev was 13 years old, there was a community meeting hosted by the utility board to discuss whether Skagit County, Washington should fluoridate the water. He stunned us all by getting up and speaking in front of the whole crowd, making an unprepared speech that was moving and convincing about why fluoridating the water is a terrible idea. After his speech the moderator mentioned how impressed he was. I am happy to say that Skagit County decided not to fluoridate, and I would like to think my son played a little part in that.
Two years later my son died of a sudden onset of bacterial meningitis. I donate to FAN and work for the cause to carry the torch for my son.
-Tony Mann
When I asked Tony if I could share his email with our FAN supporters he was kind enough to forward a transcript of Lev’s speech before the public utility board. Here it is:
My name is Lev Mann and I live at 334 Sapp Road and I have–I don’t pay for it but I use PUD water and I am here to talk about fluoride and I don’t want to be drinking water that might cause permanent damage. There are tribes and they used to live ninety years as an average lifespan and they brushed their teeth with twigs and their teeth were strong as a dog. Look at our animals like dogs, they don’t eat that stuff and they have strong teeth and they don’t need fluoride. If we didn’t eat junk foods and instead eat proper foods that didn’t hurt our teeth then we wouldn’t even need fluoride because strong foods would support our teeth naturally.Also I would like to say that I am speaking for the children, I am not even a teenager yet but I grew up in a family that encouraged free thought when making a decision and I have been thinking about this, about the fluoride thing that was voted on and I think it should be illegal or something.
I want to know about these things because all these people that are here because they didn’t agree with the vote or they didn’t know about it then and they want to know about it now.
Also, like fluoride causes a placebo effect because people think oh, I am taking fluoride, I can eat really bad food, brush my teeth with fluoride once a day and I’ll be perfectly healthy. You are supposed to drink eight cups of water a day to be healthy and six cups of water with the added amount of fluoride in it is as much as a pea-sized amount fluoride in toothpaste and they say if you swallow that much to contact your poison center immediately.
I would like to say that for a person as young as you are, you can be very proud that you got up in front of this whole group and spoke as well as you have. You have a future as a lawyer.
Top that number thirty-four! [the next speaker]
Sometimes children see things a lot clearer than adults. This is a marvelous example.
If you were as inspired by this story as we were perhaps you would consider a small donation so that we may carry Tony’s torch for Lev still further and light up the new year with a child’s wisdom. Help make 2017 the year that we ended fluoridation once and for all.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Fluoride Action Network, a project of the American Environmental Health Studies Project.
- Donate online using our secure server. If you should experience difficulty in donating at our secure server, please call Network For Good at 1-888-284-7978 and press option 3 to make your donation over the phone.
- Or by check – please make checks payable to Fluoride Action Network and send to: FAN, c/o Connett, 104 Walnut Street, Binghamton NY 13905
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