by Steve Wiandt
Reporter
Cuyahoga Falls -- As researchers make strides toward finding a cure for multiple sclerosis, local residents can help raise money to further their efforts and fund local MS programs.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Akron area Walk MS will take place April 26 with check-in starting at 8 a.m. at Blossom Music Center, 1145 W. Steels Corners Road, Cuyahoga Falls. The walk will begin at 9 a.m. Conducted the last few years at Boston Mills Ski Resort, this is the first time the Walk MS event will occur at Blossom.
The event is sponsored by Christopher & Banks and Giant Eagle.
The three-mile long route or one-mile short route allows participants to experience the pathways of Blossom Music Center. All walkers can participate as individuals or as part of a team, collecting pledges and earning incentive prizes. Each Ohio walker raises an average of $225 to help provide support for more than 18,000 Ohioans living with multiple sclerosis.
Guyla Wehman, a spokesperson for the Ohio Buckeye Chapter of the National MS Society, said many people who participate in Walk MS have MS themselves. The walking path is handicapped accessible, she said. Wehman said those who are unable to walk even the short route that day may volunteer at the event or act as a "cheerleader" at the start and finish lines.
"It's a great event," said Wehman. "The people who come out really enjoy the camaraderie." She said as of April 15 there were approximately 1,000 people registered for the event.
Wehman said in the last 15 years researchers have made significant progress, formulating five to six new disease-modifying drugs that lessen the severity of symptoms in MS patients and allow them to have a better quality of life.
"It's a much more hopeful time," she said. Wehman said since the MS Society was founded in 1946, $500 million has been spent on research. She said the Ohio Buckeye Chapter, which encompasses 36 counties, recently received $10.7 million to use over a three-year period.
In Northeast Ohio, Walk MS events will also take place April 26 starting at 9 a.m. in Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City in Cleveland, Quail Hollow State Park in Hartville, Massillon Recreation Center and Mentor High School.
According to a news release, Walk MS will take place nationally at 600-plus sites, attracting more than 200,000 people who want to raise awareness about multiple sclerosis while generating funds for MS-related research and program delivery. In 2007, the proceeds generated approximately $53 million nationwide and participants from the Ohio Buckeye Chapter raised roughly $1.3 million in the fight against MS.
For more information about multiple sclerosis or the 2008 Walk MS event in Cuyahoga Falls, call 1-800-667-7131 or visit the Walk MS Web site at www.MSohiowalk.org.
E-mail: swiandt@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3915