Katrina_Cravy's Blog

MILWAUKEE AREA RESIDENTS
TO WALK FOR A WORLD FREE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
 
 
(MILWAUKEE, WI) – This Sunday, residents from the Milwaukee area will join more than 11,000 people throughout the state and walk for a world free of multiple sclerosis (MS) at Walk MS: Christopher & Banks Walk 2008, celebrating 20 years. The walk will take place on Sunday, May 4, at the Summerfest grounds at Milwaukee’s lakefront. Registration begins at 9:00 a.m., with the walk to follow at 10:00 a.m. Participants may choose from a 3.1 or 7.5 mile route, beginning and ending at the same location. Special guest Senator Alberta Darling is scheduled to participate in the festivities. Walk MS is an event of the National MS Society – Wisconsin Chapter.
 
Spread over three weekends, Walk MS 2008 takes place in 13 cities throughout Wisconsin, raising funds to support research, client programs and services, and advocacy efforts for the more than 10,000 families living with MS in the state.   Other area cities hosting Walk MS events this weekend are: Oconomowoc (Greenland Elementary) and Racine/Kenosha (UW-Parkside).
 
Walk MS is a fully supported event, providing scenic and accessible routes, rest stops with food and beverages, first aid, and snacks. Additional entertainment will be provided by Jo Jo and the Monkeys. 
 
Although there is no registration fee, pledges are required. Participants are eligible for award and prize incentives based on the funds they raise. Last year’s MS Walk raised more than $1.8 million throughout the state. The goal for 2008 is to raise$1.9 million statewide, with more than $470,000 coming from the Milwaukee walk.
 
Sponsors of the event include Christopher & Banks, Acorda, American Family Insurance, Potawatomi, Open Pantry, Bank of Elmwood, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield: Blue View Vision, the Cordon Foundation, Whyte, Hirschboek & Dudek, and RW Baird. 
 
MS interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. It is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men contracting the disease. One in 500 Wisconsin residents lives with MS, giving our state one of the highest incidence rates in the country. While the progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, advances in research and treatment are giving hope to those affected by the disease.
 
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. For more information visit www.wisMS.org or call 262.369.4400 or 800.242.3358 toll free in Wisconsin. Join the movement.