Dear Family & Friends,

It is still difficult to believe that our beautiful and energetic daughter, Shannon, is no longer with us physically, but she is always with us in our thoughts and memories. She continues to inspire us to be genuine, tenacious, and to keep moving – even on our hardest days.

As you know, we launched a fundraising campaign for the Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation (PMSF) every August in honor of Shannon’s birthday. This year our campaign is in memory of Shannon and the positive impact that she had on so many of us. We are especially proud of the impact she CONTINUES to have on all the people she touched, all the teachers and therapists that SHE taught, and the researchers she inspired.

One ongoing impact she made is the Shannon O’Boyle Memorial Grant – Neuropsychiatric Illness. (see description below). We were thrilled to see the funds you helped raise last year supported this grant and we are excited to know that the funds we raise going forward will continue to support this grant.

The PMSF Board of Directors has established an annual research grant of $100,000 in honor of Shannon O’Boyle and to acknowledge her family’s significant contributions. The grant will be used to advance research in neuropsychiatric illnesses and to keep Shannon’s legacy alive by inspiring and offering hope to all. 

If you'd like to learn more about this grant, you can see the details here.

An anonymous donor has agreed to match up to $5,000 total donated to this year’s campaign.

To learn more about the PMS Foundation, and the work they have been doing to support families and fund research in this area so important to us, please visit https://pmsf.org/.

Thank you,

The O'Boyle family