Holyoke Mayor, Joshua García reads a proclamation designating May “Lupus Awareness Month.”

On Thursday, May 25th, 2023, Mayor Joshua García read a mayoral proclamation designating May as Lupus Awareness Month.

The proclamation was presented to Lynn Gagnon, who leads the Pioneer Valley Lupus Support Group, in an intimate and emotional ceremony at the mayor’s office. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can cause severe damage to organs and tissue, and it affects 5 million people worldwide, being the great majority of those with the disease, young women of childbearing age.

Mayor Garcia’s wife, Stefany Garcia, is one of those women, and she shared her experiences dealing with this condition, during this proclamation reading.

The Pioneer Valley Lupus Support Group is based in West Springfield and they have a Facebook Page.