Supporters of the Lupus Foundation of Arkansas held a reception on Jan. 30, to welcome people to the foundation’s new office in the Junior League of Little Rock Building.
The foundation’s headquarters moved from Hot Springs in the fall, following the death of founder Jamesetta Smith last spring, and the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to recognize the nonprofit’s presence in the city.
The Lupus Foundation of Arkansas is a nonprofit organization that focuses on raising awareness of lupus, a complex autoimmune disease affecting tissues and organs throughout the body. The Foundation offers resources and information to lupus patients and their families, organizes support groups for people suffering from the disease and raises money for research that will bring medical advancements to help with the disease.
“I’m trying to help everybody that I can,” Anita Boone, president of the foundation, told those in attendance.
Boone says she will make sure lupus patients in Hot Springs continue getting support from the foundation, and that she is also meeting with a group in Fayetteville.
“I’m in Arkansas,” she says. “We’re here to touch every place in the state.”
— Story and photos by Kimberly Dishongh