Walkers and supporters from Southern Utah are uniting for Walk MS 2014 presented by Questar, Inc. on Saturday, March 22nd at Tonaquint Park. The annual event benefiting the National MS Society, aims to raise funds to help researchers find a cure and to support local programs and services for Utahns impacted by multiple sclerosis.
“Events like Walk MS allow us to not only elevate the awareness of this disease that affects our community, but also for those who may be living with MS and unaware that our chapter is here to help them in a variety of ways,” said Becky Lyttle, Vice President of Community Development for the Utah-Southern Idaho Chapter.
“Walk MS is also a tremendous way to honor a loved one living with the disease and to fight back,” said local organizer Christina Hopkinson, whose mother lives with MS. The southern Utah Walk MS event will also be held in tribute of longtime resident and MS advocate, Joe Stallings, who passed away in 2013.
MS is an unpredictable and often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Every 50 minutes in the United States someone is newly diagnosed with more than 400,000 Americans and 2.3 million people worldwide. Utah has one of the highest incidence rates in the country. It is believed one in 300 Utahns is affected.
“The funds raised by walkers and their supporters, and also the awareness generated by each and every conversation participants have leading up to Walk MS, has the power to change the world for people impacted by multiple sclerosis,” added Lyttle. “Every step and every dollar is helping to make a difference.”
Walk MS connects people living with MS and those who care about them. It is an experience unlike any other. A day to come together as a community, celebrate the progress that has been made, and to show the power of connections. Walk to create a world free from multiple sclerosis.
About the event:
Date: March 22, 2014
Time: 8 a.m. – Check-in starts
10 a.m. – Walk MS begins
11 a.m. – Finish line celebrations
Where: Tonaquint Park
1851 South Dixie Drive
St. George, UT 84770
Registration: Sign-up at: www.WalkMSutah.org, or call 800-FIGHT-MS (344-4867),
Registration is free, fundraising encouraged
Come walk, donate or volunteer!
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Interview Opportunity:
Southern Utah MS Walk Holds Special Tribute for the Loss of a Community Supporter
The Southern Utah MS Walk also holds a special tribute this year. Organizers, Christina Hopkins and Marc Stallings, are dedicating this event to Marc’s late father, Joe Stallings. Joe’s support of Walk MS began many years ago as the volunteer coordinator. He and his wife, Linda, embraced the job with enthusiasm, optimism, and a boisterous voice to encourage everyone to walk to find a cure. Linda has lived with multiple sclerosis for many years, and despite its progression, she continued to motivate herself and worked to encourage others as well, earning the Chapter’s Living with Hope Award in 2002.
Joe Stallings passed away in 2013, but there is no question that he left a legacy with all of the participants of the Southern Utah Walk MS event. With Christina Hopkinson and Marc Stallings’ commitment, this year’s event proves to be memorable.
Both Marc and Christina are available for interviews, and would love the opportunity to share their experiences, Joe’s legacy, what the MS Walk means for the community and those living with MS, and increase awareness about MS and how it affects many of us.
To request an interview, please contact Becky Lyttle at [email protected] or 801-424-0113.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Every 50 minutes in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with the disease. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.3 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. Last year alone, through our national office and 50-state network of chapters, we devoted $122 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested $48 million to support more than 380 new and ongoing research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS now. Give what you know at www.MSconnection.org.
The Utah-Southern Idaho Chapter, based in Salt Lake City with an office in Boise, Idaho, spans a diverse urban and rural territory serving more than 46,000 people impacted by multiple sclerosis. Learn more at www.MSutah.org.
