30th annual Walk MS slated for April 13

Organizers are hoping to raise $14,000 in this year's Walk MS on April 13 at Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau.

Local advocate Mary Meyer, who has organized the walk each year for the past 30 years, said she was diagnosed in the 1980s with relapsing MS, which means the symptoms can vary in intensity from one day to the next.

Meyer said she and her son attended the first 15-mile walk held in St. Louis nearly 30 years ago, and also donated to the cause. While they were walking, it was decided they would host a similar event in Southeast Missouri.

For the first 10 years of the Cape Girardeau event, Meyer said she and her son coordinated the event. At the time, there were no medications for those with MS, she added.

"It was really hard in the beginning because nobody knew anything about multiple sclerosis," she said.

This year, Meyer expects about 150 participants.

"I've had cancer, too, so people have to go to different functions to help the people in their families, too," she said. "We pick up new people and we lose a few who no longer help because they are divided between so many diseases."

Walk MS serves as an opportunity for people to come together with friends, connect and advocate for people affected by MS, according to the organization's website.

"Nobody should face MS alone, which is why Walk MS is so powerful as the gathering place for the MS movement," Cyndi Zagieboylo, president and CEO of the National MS Society said in a news release.

Funds raised at Walk MS support programs and services for people affected by MS, Zagieboylo said, and it helps legislative decision-makers understand the challenges of MS and public policy needed.

Since the walk's inception in 1988, it has cumulatively raised more than $1 billion nationwide.

Meyer said money is still needed for research.

Proceeds from the walk go directly to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, benefitting the organization's goal of one day having "a world free of MS."

"We use none of [the proceeds] for the walk," Meyer said. "The food or anything we use that day has to be donated."

Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, according to the release, and at least two to three times more women than men are diagnosed with the disease, affecting more than 2.3 million people worldwide.

Walk registration begins at 9 a.m. April 13, and the walk begins at 10 a.m. More information can be found online at nationalmssociety.org.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632