HACA's annual educational event for Spanish-speaking members took place November 7-8 at the Hilton Fairfax in Fairfax, VA. 

The event kicked off on Saturday with two educational sessions: one on mental health with the Sabrina Farina, a speaker with the National Hemophilia Foundation, and the second on open enrollment with Felix Garcia of Biomatrix. We closed out the day with a fun game of Loteria, and then that evening Novo Nordisk presented dinner and a program on food and fitness basics with Dr. Dennis Borrero. On Sunday morning, Amy Vega of Sanofi presented breakfast and an educational program on parenting a child with hemophilia. 

Participants also helped put together HACA Cares giveaway bags that the Children's National Hospital HTC will be giving away to patients in need. 

Thank you to this year's event sponsors: Bayer Healthcare, Biomatrix, CSL Behring, CVS Specialty, Hemophilia Alliance Foundation, National Bleeding Disorders Foundation, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda. 

Earlier this year, HACA purchased Thinx period underwear for the HTCs at Georgetown University Hospital and Children’s National Hospital through funding provided by the Hemophilia Alliance Foundation. Both treatment centers still have underwear available for patients.

Georgetown patients can contact social worker Leah Kramer at leah.kramer@georgetown.edu, and Children’s National patients can reach out to social worker Marissa Zanno at mzanno@childrensnational.org They can share more details on what sizes are available and how best to figure out what size will work for you or your daughter.

For more information on Thinx and how they work, click here.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our kinesiology taping program with Mike Zolotnisky, DPT, on Sunday, November 2, at McGinty’s Irish Pub in Silver Spring. We enjoyed an engaging, hands-on presentation with demonstrations on taping the shoulder, elbow, wrist, neck, low back, knee, and ankle, along with discussion of when taping is most effective during acute injury.

When applied correctly, kinesiology taping can help reduce swelling, improve range of motion, increase stability, and relieve pain—making this a valuable tool not only for people with bleeding disorders, but for many in our community. A special thank you to Octapharma for generously sponsoring and presenting this luncheon.

We welcomed more than 120 chapter members to our annual holiday gathering on Sunday, December 7, at the Stacy Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax. 

The holiday event has become one of the highlights of our yearly calendar, and this year was no exception! Our theme for 2025 was "The Nutcracker," and the highlight of the evening was a sneak peek of the Virginia Ballet Company and School's annual performance! A special thanks to the dancers that participated, as well as Addy Norman, events and community relations manager, and board member Brena Whitten for coordinating the performance. The company's "Nutcracker" performance will be December 27-29 at the Ernst Cultural Center at Northern Virginia Community College; click here for more information. 

Santa returned this year with Matthew Stone filling the boots of his father, David Stone. David was our Santa for many years and passed away in 2024. Matthew and his mom, Terry (Mrs. Claus), handed out gifts to the kids, who waited eagerly for their names to be called. 

The evening also included hot chocolate and cookie decorating booths, a buffet that featured chicken tenders, barbecue chicken sliders, pasta, salad and macaroni and cheese, and the annual HACA snowball fight to close out the event. 

Thank you to everyone who attended, as well as this year's sponsors: Bayer Healthcare, Biomatrix, the Colburn-Keenan Foundation, CSL Behring, DrugCo Health, Genentech and Sanofi. 

The National Bleeding Disorders Foundation will present its annual Washington Days advocacy event March 4-7 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. 

For 2026, every adult is asked to contribute a nominal registration fee of $25 to help offset the cost of registration and meals. 

The event kicks off Wednesday evening with advocacy training and dinner at the hotel, where you will meet other members of your advocacy team and coordinate meeting details. Thursday will be a full day of meetings on Capitol Hill with lawmakers and staff members, and will include breakfast and dinner at the hotel. Friday morning will be a breakfast session on state-based advocacy. 

Your participation is more important than ever, with the HELP Copays Act being introduced in both the House and Senate again in 2026, and with changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid in the wings. 

If you are interested in attending, please reach out to Brenda and she will share the registration links for adults and children. 

The Hemophilia Federation of America will host its annual Symposium April 16-19 in New Orleans, and registration is now open. 

HACA will offer two Sandi Qualley Scholarships for national meetings in 2026, one for Symposium and one for the NBDF Bleeding Disorders Conference in August. 

We will offer up to $1,000 to reimburse travel expenses including airfare, hotel rooms, and registration for one person, and $2,000 for two or more people in a family. 

Click here for the scholarship application. Deadline is January 30. For more information on Symposium, click here. 

Want to register for a HACA event? You can do that through our weekly Chapter Connection email, or you can go here on the HACA website to check out the calendar of events. 

Here are some upcoming events: 

Saturday, January 10 - Family Event at Monster Golf

Saturday, February 7 - Infusion/Injection Workshop

Saturday, March 21 - Chapter Education Day

Saturday, April 25 - vWD Education Event

Saturday, May 16 - Factor Dash 5K and Walk