About the Christian DeRiemer Trust... The Christian DeRiemer Trust was established to help provide a means of accumulating, managing and distributing funds that will help offset the costs of caring for a child who has lived with the debilitations of muscular dystrophy since he was two months old. Christian, now 17, was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy that requires 24 hours a day - 7 days a week nursing care. This condition has left him confined to a wheelchair, hooked to a machine that breathes for him through a permanent tracheotomy, and paralyzed to the degree that he cannot perform even the slightest task for himself. His parents, Neil and Karen, have had to endure struggles that most people couldn’t even imagine. The DeRiemers qualify for 16 hours a day RN & LPN coverage with the remaining 8 hours falling on their shoulders. However, due to a shortage of nurses, only about 70% of Christian’s nursing shifts are filled, leaving the balance to be covered by Neil and Karen (in addition to the 8 hours a day they already put in.) The financial burden of round-the-clock nursing, not to mention the medical equipment and supplies necessary to keep Christian alive, is immense. For the past 12 years, Neil and Karen have waged one battle after another to get funding for what Christian needs and is entitled to by law either in equipment, supplies, or therapies. To fill this gap between government funding and insurance benefits and the actual cost of Christian’s care, we have established The Christian DeRiemer Trust. Christian DeRiemer Trust The Christian DeRiemer Trust P,O. Box 756 Paoli, Pa. 19301 e-mail: teaparty16@hotmail.com Board Members Elizabeth R. Watkinson President Bill Watkinson Vice President Suzanne Gorman Barbara Botti Linda Child Helen Hammerschmidt Cathy-Renee Vinnecombe Jennifer Kolmer Karen M. Miller Stephanie Buysee Edith Gitlin Steve Pinkston Maryann Pinkston