ST. PAUL – The annual fundraiser golf tournament held at the St. Paul Golf Course on Aug. 8 drew 200 golfers and raised thousands in donations to support Canadians living with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The final fundraising amount is not yet available as of press deadline.
The event was hosted by MS Canada and presented by the Lakeland Brewing Company. Brenda Rosychuk, manager of community fundraising for western Canada with MS Canada, said over 90,000 people in Canada are living with MS.
MS is a disease that erodes the body’s ability to communicate with the brain and function normally, affecting vision, memory, balance, and mobility. "It's honestly a very gruelling disease," she said, explaining that the disease is so complex that a cure is yet to be found. In addition to MS Canada's mission to support people living with MS, the organization also helps with ongoing research to find a cure through fundraising efforts across the nation.
So far, MS Canada has provided $244 million toward the research of MS since its inception 76 years ago.
While there is yet no cure, Rosychuk said, "there are definitely strides," and the cause to cure MS is only possible due to the constant support of communities, including in St. Paul. Last year, the fundraiser tournament in St. Paul raised $70,000, according to Rosychuk. Final numbers for this year were to available as of press time.
Rosychuk said when tickets were made available for the tournament, they were immediately sold out within 20 minutes. "We're just really grateful for all the support that we've received from this community and beyond," she said, not only by helping raise money, but also helping raise awareness about the disease.
