The Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation is an all-volunteer group of parents who have family members affected by 22q13 Deletion Syndrome/Phelan-McDermid Syndrome. Since our inception in 1998 we've grown in many ways. We started out with a small conference with 23 families, a newsletter and message board. Over the years, we've added a Web site, attended medical conferences, supp orted research and opened an office in Venice, Fla. Our most recent conference had more than 400 attendees.

With our growth comes the growing need for more volunteer help. That's where you come in. We need eager, organized and dedicated people who will help us do anything from sending out e-mails to raising money to helping organize our international conference. There are many big and small jobs that match up with your skills. And you don't need to be a parent to help. If you're a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling or friend. We'd be happy to use your services.

Some of the areas we need help in are Research, Fund Raising, Communication, Web Site, Conference Planning and Membership. Those are broad categories, but there are many jobs under each umbrella that makes our Foundation and Support Group successful. If you'd like to help, contact one of the members of our Board of Directors (you can e-mail them by clicking on the About Us link on the left side of the page and then the Board of Directors link) or call our office at (941) 485-8000.

We'd enjoy having you help us to reach our goals.