All charitable startup founders know that hosting a star-studded event is one of the top ways to get the word out about a foundation’s cause. The International Pain Foundation (iPain) did just that on Thursday at their 10th Anniversary Music Moves Awareness World Premiere Party at The Charleston Haus in Los Angeles. At the chic, charitable gala, celebrities like Christina Milian and YouTube sensation Morgan Hanbery walked the orange carpet and learned all about iPain’s mission to bring awareness to the millions of people who are currently living with chronic pain like Lupus and ALS.
The Music Moves Awareness Project is centered on empowering chronic pain patients to live the very best lives they can live. The initiative believes that music has the power to make lives better and inspire those living with chronic pain to become engaged by being their own best advocate. At the event, top Hollywood influencers and socialites were able to learn more about the foundation, hear stories, watch an interactive performance by chronic pain patients, and support the cause by entering a silent auction for phenomenal prizes. Guests also enjoyed snacking on tasty eats and sampling Neuro beverages.
At the end of the event, guests got to take home special swag bags filled with must-have picks from LupusChick, Jon Kabat-Zinn‘s discs featuring mindfulness mediation techniques to help chronic pain patients, and the Good Yeti virtual reality viewer for your phone. Other fun gifts were Zinnia dahlia flowered mix seeds by American Meadows, a “faith” necklace by Origami Owl, Sore No More natural pain relieving gel, XyliMelts for dry mouth, Smarty Pants gummy vitamins, NutriNerve (a breakthrough for neuropathy), an EZ Gripper jar opener, The Survival Tabs, and Raw Organic Protein by Garden of Life.
On the orange carpet, Home Business Magazine chatted with iPain Foundation President Barby Ingle. She was happy to share what the foundation is all about.
“The International Pain Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit charity that works around the world to help chronic pain patients get access to care, research, education, social events (because a lot of times the patients will isolate themselves), and educational events. All of our educational events are free for the patients to attend.
My dad started the foundation because it took three years to get a proper diagnosis for me. We figured that if it happened to me, it’s probably happened to other people. We reached out to the community and found that that was the case. The foundation started as a family project and 10 years later, here we are,” Barby happily said.
She went on to discuss the other ways iPain gets the word out about their cause.
“We’ve done pain expos, symposiums, and a whole webinar series that is going on through 2017 as a part of the Music Moves Awareness initiative,” she shared. “We also get the word out to the public by distributing printed materials.”
Barby also shared her top tips to help chronic pain patients live their best lives.
“First off, it is so important to stay positive,” she said. “I am a cheerleader of hope, so I want to inspire other people to motivate themselves to be the best people they can be. Know that you are going to have ups and downs and know that that’s okay. Live the best life that you can.”
And what is coming up next for iPain?
“We are also releasing featurettes about the chronic pain patients over the next 18 months, where we share their stories and put the spotlight on them. This will help the world learn more about chronic pain. Each of the different featurettes has a different pain condition, different treatment options that they’re pursuing, and things that are going on in their lives. This event is all about raising awareness–we have celebrities come to events like this one to help raise awareness, tweet about it, and talk about it, and then we turn the spotlight onto the patients and share their stories.”
YouTube sensation Morgan Hanbery also stopped on the orange carpet to chat with Home Business Magazine. Famous for her singing videos and hilarious makeup tutorials, the YouTube star was happy to talk about how life has been since her videos took off.
“My life has been good–it’s been blessings after blessings,” Morgan said.
She went on to chat about what she was at the event for.
“I am here with my publicist, Robyn Santiago of Illumination PR, and Christina Milian. We are so happy to be here to support the iPain Foundation,” she said.
She also chatted about her other upcoming projects.
“I wrote music and sang way before doing the makeup tutorials,” Morgan said. “I am doing a lot of singing videos in addition to the makeup videos now. I am also going to get a professional camera and work with a professional company now. Then I will upload videos on a consistent basis. It’s going to be awesome!”
And how does she balance everything going on in her life as a successful home-based entrepreneur?
“I balance everything by remembering to stay humble,” Morgan said. “You have to always humble yourself. I also remember to breathe in and breathe out every day.”
Find out more about International Pain Foundation at www.powerofpain.org.
Contact: shannahch@gmail.com
