February 5 is the deadline for you to sign up for this year’s “Virtual Lyme Fly-In,” which will take place on February 24.

Here’s the deal: Usually, a “fly-in” is a coordinated event when people travel to Washington DC to meet with their Congressional representatives and/or their staffs. 2020’s Lyme Fly-In made major in-roads and helped bring about increased federal funding for Lyme disease.

This year, the Center for Lyme Advocacy is planning a virtual fly-in, which means participants will have video appointments with their Congressional offices. This makes it much easier for people who are spread out across the US to get involved. (Like maybe YOU?)

So far, people from 31 states have signed up. Which means, alas, that 19 states have nobody representing them yet.

Here are the states that have no signups. If you live in one of the following states, here’s your chance to step up!

Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

The following nine states have only one person signed up at the moment. We’d love to have at least 2-3 from each state, if possible. So, if you’re in one of these states, we hope you’ll register, too.

Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Washington.

The remaining states all have more than one person signed up. But you can still register, even if you’re from one of those states.

Here’s how it works

The Center for Lyme Action will set up a video appointment for you to meet with the Washington offices of your Congressional representatives. (Typically, you’ll meet with staff members.)

Don’t worry that you won’t know what to say. The CLA will offer video training to all participants, so you’ll know what to ask for and why.

Here’s the time commitment:

Tuesday February 23, 2021
3:00pm ET – 5:00pm ET

Training session

Wednesday February 24, 2021
9:00am – 5:00pm ET

Meetings with congressional offices. All meetings will be scheduled to accommodate time zones. Each attendee will be scheduled an average of three 30-minute meetings.

Tuesday February 16
3:00pm ET – 4:30pm ET / 12:00pm PT – 1:30pm PT
Additional training for the fly-in, talking points for Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations and legislation, online platform logistics overview.

Click here to register for the 2021 virtual Lyme fly-in

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s Vice-president and Director of Communications. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.