The Scleroderma Foundation 1st Annual 'Fight For Lexi' Golf Tournament at the Dove Canyon Country Club on September 21, 2009 Featuring a Performance by Carlos Mencia

The event kicks off with a shotgun start at 10:30 a.m., and will be followed by a silent auction and awards dinner. Noted comedian Carlos Mencia will perform a brief comic set at the Awards Dinner at 5:30 p.m.

The event is organized by the Pettit Family whose daughter, Lexi, was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, scleroderma, in 2008 at the age of 15. "I can't begin to tell you what a shock it was to learn that our daughter was diagnosed with this rare and awful disease," commented Lexi's mother, Melinda Pettit. "Scleroderma is rare among the adult population, but even more uncommon among children, so there was a lot of fear and uncertainty for us when we got this diagnosis."

That's when the Pettit family turned to the Scleroderma Foundation, Southern California Chapter, where they were able to learn more about the chronic autoimmune disease that affects approximately 300,000 people in the United States, with nearly 80 percent of those diagnosed being women in their child-bearing years.

"There is no known cause for scleroderma, and there is no cure," Mrs. Pettit continues. "That's why we feel it's so important to do something to support the Scleroderma Foundation, which provides much-need patient education services and is the leading nonprofit organization funding critical research to find a cure."

About Scleroderma

Scleroderma is a chronic, often progressive, autoimmune disease in which one's own immune system attacks its body.

Scleroderma can cause a thickening and tightening of the skin. In the systemic form of the disease, often called systemic sclerosis, scaring (or sclerosis) causes serious damage to the internal organs, including the lungs, heart, kidneys, esophagus and gastrointestinal tract. As scarring of these organs and organ systems progress, they work less effectively and can lead to organ failure and death.

Some medications and treatments can help with certain symptoms, but there is still no cure for the disease, which affects about 300,000 people in the United States. (By way of comparison, approximately the same number of people are affected with multiple sclerosis.)

About the Scleroderma Foundation, Southern California Chapter

The Los Angeles-based Scleroderma Foundation, Southern California Chapter, is part of the national Scleroderma Foundation, which is based in metropolitan Boston, MA. Its mission it so provide peer-to-peer patient support services, educational programs, and raise funds to support the Foundation's research and awareness programs.

For more information about the disease and the Scleroderma Foundation, Southern California Chapter, visit www.scleroderma.org or call (310) 592-1799.

The event will be held at the Dove Canyon Country Club, 22682 Golf Club Drive, Dove Canyon, CA 92679.

To obtain more information about the 1(st) Annual "Fight For Lexi" Golf Tournament, please call the Tournament Office at (310) 592-1799.

For information about the National Scleroderma Foundation visit www.scleroderma.org.

    CONTACT:  Brian Adams
              Executive Director
              Scleroderma Foundation/Southern California Chapter
              (310)592-1799
              sclerodermasocal@hotmail.com