Events & News

Image

Seizure star: Kim Potts

Our quarterly seizure stars are adults or children who have gone above and beyond to raise awareness about epilepsy and seizures, to raise funds for resources, supports and future research, and who have been all-round stars in promoting knowledge in their community.  This issue's Seizure Star is Kim Potts because of the years she has spent working in the field of epilepsy as a full time employee and as a weekend warrior.  

How did epilepsy come into your life?

Epilepsy has been in my life since I was a young child.  My mother had a seizure disorder. I can remember many days I would have to help her because she was having a bad day.  Looking back, maybe the career path that I have chosen was meant to be.

For the last 15 years I have worked for the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group (NEREG) as the Office Manager for the NY area.  I really enjoy working with all the patients and learning all I can about Epilepsy.

How have you worked to raise epilepsy awareness and funds for foundations that support epilepsy?

I have worked on many fundraising events here at NEREG by participating in local and national events.  Our NEREG team traveled to Washington, DC several years in a row.  We are always trying to raise awareness in our offices by celebrating and inviting our patients to participate (International Epilepsy Day events, Purple Pumpkin Day®, and more).  At our annual conference and at other times of the year, we hold various raffles with purple scarfs, jewelry, etc. to raise funds for Epilepsy. The reason all our raffle items are purple is because purple is the official epilepsy awareness color. 

I have also been on a planning committee for 5 years for an area walk in Dutchess County, NY. 

It sounds like you are raising awareness all year long.  Tell us more about how you do this?

At NEREG we try to acknowledge as many months or days that have a special epilepsy meaning to bring awareness to patients, as well as our staff.   We celebrate International Epilepsy Day which is February 12, all of November, which is Epilepsy Awareness Month, and in the past, we have celebrated Purple Pumpkin Day® and Purple Day®. On these special dates, we usually set up tables with educational handouts, some goodies and decorate each office with as much purple as possible.  

We recently decorated a tree in our Middletown office with purple lights and purple ornaments. We have decided that we are going to keep the lights on and decorate it with purple decorations for each holiday throughout the year.  We are currently looking for purple hearts for Valentine's Day to add to our tree.

Over the years I have attended multiple Epilepsy Walks.  Some of them include Walkway over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, NY, Dutchess County Fair Grounds in Rhinebeck, NY, and Hudson Valley Stoll for Epilepsy in Stanfordville, NY.

The biggest event, if anyone has an opportunity to attend, is the National Epilepsy Walk in Washington, D.C. which will be held on April 14, 2018.  This is truly an amazing event from the huge crowd of attendees, to walking the village with all the booths and give aways. The scenery alone is just breathtaking. This should be on everyone's list to attend.

As far as my future plans for Epilepsy activities, it's hard to say. Each event we try to come up with new and exciting ideas. I am thinking of getting to the new Tappan Zee Bridge to light up purple for Epilepsy Day!

Thank you, Kim, for speaking with us. You are definitely doing A LOT for epilepsy and seizures and deserve to be this issue's Epilepsy Star!

Twitter Facebook