26 Days of Kawasaki Disease Awareness: Day 2

To celebrate the 4th annual National Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day on January 26, 2014, I will be posting 26 ideas on how you can spread KD awareness in your own community and beyond - one idea per day until the 26th.  

Here are the past days:

Day 1: Help make 'National Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day' officially recognized at the local, state, and national levels.

Now let's get to today's idea:

Day 2: Create an email signature to promote Kawasaki Disease awareness.

Today's idea is simple, free, and stolen from Isaiah's Kawasaki Disease Journey (thank you, Carin!).  Email has become one of the most popular ways of communication and even those who may not have embraced other social media outlets likely use email.  It is so incredibly easy to share information nowadays; you providing a link to KD information in your email signature has the potential to start a chain reaction that could reach thousands of people.  

An email signature is a small amount of information - like a footer - that is added automatically to the bottom of every email you send.  There are many different kinds of email signatures: personal, professional, and social.  Many use the signature for general contact information.  Some use this space as a sign-off with a favorite quote or blurb, although it is pretty well known that long, superfluous, and graphic-heavy signatures are annoying and unwanted.  

An email signature to raise awareness for Kawasaki Disease should be simple, informational, and useful.  One fact about KD, a mention of Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day, your personal connection to KD, or a link to specific KD information would all work well.  Here are some samples:

1. Kawasaki Disease is the #1 cause of acquired heart disease in children.  To learn more about KD, click here: (provide web address).
2. Only 19 in 100,000 American children are diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease each year; my child was one of them.  To learn more about KD, click here: (provide web address).
3. I'm promoting National Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day on January 26th.  Learn more here: (provide web address).
4. More than 5,000 children are diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease every year in the US; my child was one of them.  Learn more about KD here: (provide web address).
5. "Kawasaki Disease turns the sweetest faces into the fiercest fighters."  Help me celebrate National Kawasaki Disease Awareness Day on January 26th by sharing this quote.  Click here for more info: (provide web address). 
6. I support Kawasaki Disease awareness and I hope you will too.  To learn more, click here (provide web address).

You can link to whatever KD source you feel would be best and place statistics specific to your geographical region.  If you don't have a child with KD, and you are simply promoting KD awareness because you're AWESOME, then just take out the personal stuff and keep the facts.  

Most email providers make it pretty easy to set up your own signature, and all provide information about it in their help sections.  For more information, check out this article that provides many great tips and links including:

• email signature generators,
• how to set up signatures on your phone, and  
• do's and don'ts for effective signatures.

If you plan to use this idea, please let us know how it goes in the comments.  Do you have a great idea for KD awareness? Comment below or over at DSK's Facebook page.  Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of 26 Days of Kawasaki Disease Awareness!