Support Children's of Alabama During National Epilepsy Awareness Month, Purchase the Help End Epilepsy Specialty Car Tag

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Nov. 5, 2020) – November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month, and residents of Alabama can support patients treated at the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Children’s of Alabama by registering for the Help End Epilepsy specialty car tag.

The Help End Epilepsy specialty car tag was approved in March. There are currently more than 500 individuals registered for the tag. For the state of Alabama to produce the tag, a minimum requirement of 1,000 commitments must be met. The Help End Epilepsy car tag is available for $50 at any Alabama Department of Motor Vehicles office. Of that amount, $41.25 from each tag will provide valuable funding for the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Children’s.

“The Help End Epilepsy tag is critical in highlighting statewide awareness of this disorder, funding research and providing patient care at the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Children’s of Alabama,” said Emily Hornak, director of cause marketing and corporate partnerships at Children’s. “Supporting this tag shows more than 5,000 patients from across Alabama that people care mightily about helping support the medicine and, ultimately, finding a cure.”  

Epilepsy, the most common serious brain disorder worldwide, is the underlying tendency of the brain to produce seizures. The Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Children’s provides care for more than 5,000 children in Alabama, using the latest technologies and state-of-the-art facilities to diagnose and treat seizures. The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) at Children’s accommodates up to 10 patients daily. The EMU is designated Level 4 by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC), which is the highest level for units specializing in a continuum of care for patients from seizure evaluation to seizure treatment plan.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 54,000 people in Alabama are living with epilepsy and seizures, including more than 7,500 children. Over a lifetime, one in 10 people will have a seizure, and one in 26 will be diagnosed with epilepsy.

In addition to the car tag, the lights on top of Children’s will be lit purple for the month of November to create awareness and recognize patients with epilepsy. For more information, or to commit to purchasing a Help End Epilepsy specialty car tag, visit childrensal.org/epilepsy or contact helpendepilepsy@childrensal.org.