Honorary Chair: John O'Hurley

You've seen him before. Was it on Seinfeld? "The New to Tell the Truth?" As the Xerox angel? Or was it on our letterhead or at one of our special events? ... .John O'Hurley is the Honorary Chair of The Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County.

An accomplished sailor, John began his association with our agency seven years ago as a celebrity guest at Weekend on the Water™. It was there he shared his personal experience of how epilepsy had touched his life. John's sister died from complications involving a seizure when she was 17. Since then, he has maintained a steadfast commitment to epilepsy advocacy. As Honorary Chair John has appeared in public service announcements, served as a celebrity spokesperson, and recently he sponsored six kids to attend Camp Quest.

EFSDC is most fortunate to have him as our "angel".

Since retiring from UCSD four years ago, Jan has become a "hands on" volunteer in the office each week. She is tremendously helpful handling administrative tasks, answering calls, doing data entry and working on mailings.

Despite a demanding personal schedule, Jan remains committed to helping the Epilepsy Foundation. The staff describes Jan as incredibly efficient and an absolute joy to work with. Because we can't get along without her, she is our "2001 Volunteer of the Year."

Tracy Salazar is mom to Talon, age 9, and Savannah, age 8. She is also a pre-med student and volunteer extraordinaire. Because of Savannah's severe form of epilepsy, Tracy has made it her goal to help not only her daughter, but also other families who are living with epilepsy. When Tracy called our agency to ask if we had a support group for parents of children with seizure disorders, the answer was "unfortunately, no." Her reply: "Then I will start one!"

Since that time she has spearheaded the reorganization of a parent network and our parent support groups. She also edits a bi-monthly parent newsletter called "Parents Page", gives classroom presentations to children about epilepsy, has been EFSDC's legislative team leader for a statewide health care initiative program on epilepsy; is a speaker for the United Way/CHAD/Combined Federal Campaign; participates in fundraising activities; and has represented EFSDC at the National Epilepsy Foundation's Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., lobbying House and Senate for funding for epilepsy research. In addition to her work with EFSDC she also is a tutor and teachers aide at her college as well as volunteering at her children's school.

We are very grateful for Tracy's energy, commitment and hard work in the cause of epilepsy.

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