Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is three times more common in the Canadian population than multiple sclerosis or HIV, and about as common as Type 1 diabetes. But you don’t hear as much about it because, well, who wants to talk about something that happens to your bowels?

I’ve written before about IBD, specifically Crohn’s disease, and why it’s a cause so close to home. And that doctors and scientists don’t know what causes it, although they think there are genetic and environmental components. So here’s my public service announcement for an easy way to support research to find the cause and the cure.

Starting tomorrow, and maybe already happening in some M&M Meat Shops stores, you can donate $2 to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Canada by buying a paper Charity BBQ Day star. The low-key promotion leads up to the 21st annual M&M Meat Shops Charity BBQ Day on May 9. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day, supporters will receive a hamburger or hot dog, a drink and a bag of chips for a minimum donation of $2.50. All food and time is donated, so every penny raised  — and they’re hoping for $2.1 million — goes directly to research into the cause and potential cure for these two forms of IBD.

Find an M&M store, volunteer to flip burgers or just show up to have a burger. I know you’ve had a healthier lunch, but straying from your usual diet for one day won’t hurt you, will it? If it will, go for the paper star. You can write on it, “Sue made me do it.” Thanks.

November is Crohn’s and colitis awareness month, or as the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Canada likes to call it, “Get Gutsy Month.” (There is a similar foundation “of America” but they don’t appear to be going gutsy this month.) So this is my public awareness message for an autoimmune disorder that hits not just close to home but right inside.

We’re very familiar with Crohn’s disease in our house because Son #2 was diagnosed with it at age 14. Basically, the immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract, causing abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, vomiting and other fun stuff. Symptoms can be unpredictable, uncomfortable, tiring, embarrassing and disruptive. Stress makes them worse. Young people with Crohn’s — and it’s often diagnosed in the early teens and twenties — may grow at a slower rate and may appear younger and smaller than their peers. Isn’t that just what you need in your high school years?

Crohn’s has no “cachet;” who wants to talk about something that happens to your bowels? There’s no cure. Doctors and scientists don’t even know for sure what causes it, although they think there are both genetic and environmental components.

Diagnostic tests are invasive, the kind where people say, “Oh the test itself wasn’t too bad because I was sedated, but the preparation…!” Treatment options basically control the symptoms, attempting to put/keep the disease at a low level that interferes as little as possible in your daily life. When you read the fine print on all the various medications, you find that possible side effects are similar to the condition, and worse.

So if you find yourself with a few dollars you would consider putting towards a good cause, here’s one that deserves some support. Thank you. End of public service message.

If you are in one of the 460 communities across Canada that has an M&M Meats Shop, please consider stopping by on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. That’s when franchisees are grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for the 20th annual Charity BBQ Day, raising money for research to find a cure for Crohn’s and colitis. For only $2.50 (more, if you want to be generous), you’ll receive a hamburger or hot dog, a drink and a bag of chips. Last year, this event raised $1.91 million, and this year it’s aiming for $2 million – every penny going directly to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Canada.

As I have mentioned before, Son #2 has Crohn’s, so we could be flipping the burgers here in Oakville again this year!

Most of us find it far too easy to gain weight. Son#2 has the opposite problem; he struggles to gain or maintain weight, because he has Crohn’s Disease. This form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects the digestive system and causes the intestinal tissue to become inflamed, form sores and bleed easily. The nutrients from food aren’t easily absorbed, leading to weight loss and other issues. There’s no known cause, and there’s no cure. I am compelled to add “yet.”

So I’m all for supporting research into this disease, and M&M Meat Shops is making it easy. Besides a yearly barbecue in May with proceeds going to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Canada, M&M holds a Family Dinner Night in September. This year, it’s September 20. For every person who registers participation in the night (which just means entering your name and province), M&M will donate $1 to CCFC. Then all you do is sit down and enjoy dinner with your family. Of course, if you need dinner ideas, M&M has plenty of those.

I finally reached someone at the Grocery Foundation to find out about the SuperGala fundraiser for Crohn’s & Colitis. She told me “We do not advertise the gala because the tickets are sold through the retailers and not to the public. We only showcase the gala on the website after it’s over.” Upon further questioning, she revealed that the head offices of Sobeys, Loblaws, A&P etc. sell the tickets to their suppliers, not the public. Oh, and they are $700 each.

Looks like my husband and I will instead spend $25 apiece to attend Taste of Clarkson, a winter promotion among several restaurants in nearby Mississauga. We’ll make a donation directly to CCFC.

The Beach Boys are apparently playing at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto tomorrow night for “the most successful fundraising gala in Canada.” It’s the SuperGala put on by the Grocery Industry Foundation…Together (GIFT), with half of the proceeds going to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Canada.

They are hoping to raise $3,000 from this gala, but I guess they don’t want my contribution towards that amount. Because although I support CCFC and am on their mailing list, and they’ve told me the gala is taking place, they have not told me how to buy tickets. There is nothing on the CCFC web site about this, only how to contribute silent auction items and how to volunteer to help run the auction. I called CCFC and was passed to someone whose mailbox was full and did not return an e-mail, but surely getting such key information as “how much” and “where to buy” should be more public.

After I Googled several different terms related to the gala, I found out that last year’s event had “4,000 glamorous guests.” Aha, so that’s it. Perhaps this is a closed event, by invitation only to a certain moneyed crowd to which I don’t belong. Oh well, looks like Saturday evening is open.