They came out in droves, and whether they were kids on a bike, a 21-week pregnant woman pushing a baby in a stroller and jogging, or whether they were in a wheelchair and getting help from a daughter or a friend, they all finished the Walk to End MS in St. Paul this past Saturday.
Local firefighters also took up the challenge, wearing full gear to represent how it felt to have MS and walk, their limbs weighed down by the heavy equipment, their faces covered by a mask. Even still, some of them ran the last stretch of the way to the start/finish line at the Recreation Centre and ran through the giant inflated arch to cheers from the people waiting at the end.
“We’re very lucky in the Lakeland to have such amazing support,” said Jenna MacDonald, with Lakeland’s MS Society of the ___ people that ended up coming out to the event and raising ___ in the process. And while it fell short of the $160,000 goal that was set, she noted any funds raised through the event were welcome, with 50 per cent going to research on MS, and 50 per cent going to support people living in the Lakeland who suffered from MS.
A few of those teams supporting the cause had surpassed the $10,000 mark, including Corinne Webster Lotoski’s team of MS Rockstars. Driving her is the fact that since she was 15, she has known she has had MS and knows just what it means for those who live with that reality.
“I’m very lucky; thank goodness my health has been good,” she said, adding a quick “knock on wood”. She’s had MS flare-ups before, which for her has meant symptoms such as a loss of vision, numbness and deep pain in her ears. It’s an awareness of what the disease can cost a person that drives her to fundraise, a drive that was rewarded when she was honoured as a MS volunteer of the year.
Whenever people raise more than $10,000 for the cause, they also earn the right to attend the Walk of Champions for top fundraisers. This year’s top fundraisers go to Nashville, and Lotoski says, “I really want to go to Nashville.”
“So let’s raise $10,000 to do that!” says her friend Kasia Guitard.
Lotoski, along with Guitard and her other friends, was in form to run at this year’s event, but she notes that others with MS were not so lucky, including her friend Gail Plouffe, who having had a recent MS flare-up, finished the walk in a wheelchair.
“I run for her too, because she can’t,” she said.
And as long as she can do it, she will be driven to fundraise for the cause.
“I’d like there to finally be a cure, so we’ll keep raising money – and hopefully, the cure will be found.”
