There are hundreds of thousands of people across the United States suffering from arthritis. It’s a painful disease that you can’t typically see. Patients and advocates work tirelessly to raise awareness and money for the Arthritis Foundation, to hopefully one day find a cure.

July is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month and according to the CDC, there are nearly 300,000 children in the United States suffering from the disease.

Last year, our Caitlin Irla introduced you to a young girl named Ava, who started showing symptoms at just 18 months old.

Now, two and a half years later, her mother Jamie says they still have not found the right treatment for Ava. Finding treatment is different for everyone and sometimes it can take up to 12 weeks for a medication to kick in to see if it even works.

Simple things like playing or going to school often cause a lot of pain for Ava and other kids like her.

“You can’t see it, it’s not like a lot of other diseases children have, you don’t know that she has it,” Jamie StMartin said. “She tends to be shy or cranky some days and people don’t understand why, but she’s hurting. It’s hard for her to express that because she’s so little.”

There is currently no cure, and that’s why Jamie has started raising money and awareness in different ways.

Jamie and her family are hoping people will buy tickets to their special fundraising dinner coming up on Thursday, July 25 at Normanside Country Club. It’s called Warm Winter Wonderland and it’s a Christmas in July theme. There will be raffles, silent auctions, a DJ to keep the dance floor moving and a buffet dinner. It’s from 6 to 9 pm.

You can buy tickets here.  

You can also learn more on the Ava Strong Facebook page.