Multiple sclerosis walk winds through Camden
CAMDEN — Every day more than 1 million people must cope with the effects of multiple sclerosis. On Saturday morning, April 18, more than 100 people participated in the five-mile Walk MS Camden 2015 in support of those afflicted.
Assembling at 9 a.m., the walk officially got underway around 10 a.m. Judith Hamer is a development associate with the National MS Society coordinated the event in Camden.
“Today, we have five MS walks happening in the state,” she said. “We also have one in Brewer, Brunswick, Kennebunkport and one in Augusta. They are all five- or six-mile walks.”
Next weekend, there are two more walks planned, one in Portland and one in Lewiston. Every location holds a walk once a year.
“There is no fee to be in the walk, but we ask that people raise a donation of at least $25,” said Hamer. “If they raise $100, we give them a T-shirt. It’s not a per-mile thing. People have been fundraising for months to help MS.”
Hamer said the walk was to help raise awareness, but it’s also money for research and programs that offered.
According to the national Walk MS website, the first walk took place in 1988 in Minneapolis. Today, Walk MS events raise $50 million a year with more than 300,000 people participating. Walk MS events are help in every single state.
Multiple sclerosis is an often disabling disease of the central nervous system. It disables the brain’s ability to communicate with the body. Symptoms can be mild from dizziness to severe with total paralysis. Three times more women than men are diagnosed with the disease yearly.
The Walk MS website said that 79 cents out of every dollar raised goes to help victims of MS through programs, services and research. The site said last year they provided services to over one million people.
