The San Diego Community Newspaper Group, publishers of the Beach & Bay Press, Peninsula Beacon, La Jolla Village News and sdnews.com, have partnered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in San Diego in support of the San Diego County Credit Union Walk MS, a fundraising walk, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 8 at NTC Park at Liberty Station, 2455 Cushing Road, in Point Loma. National MS Society officials expect about 4,500 people will walk and help raise about $462,000 for MS research and program and services for people with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and body. The three-mile walk along San Diego Bay is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Check-in begins at 7 a.m. Admission is free to attend Walk MS. There is no cost to be a walker. On-site registration is available. Event information is available at www.walkMS.org.
San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU) is returning as title sponsor of Walk MS at NTC Park. SDCCU has supported the National MS Society’s Walk MS for the past 19 years, and has served as title sponsor since 2002. Over the years, SDCCU’s sponsorship support for Walk MS has exceeded $1 million, according to the National MS Society.
Presenting sponsors of the 2017 San Diego County Credit Union Walk MS include NBC 7 San Diego, KyXy 96.5, Energy 103.7 and Sycuan Casino. Other sponsors include StemGenex, Biogen, Sanofi Genzyme, Ability Magazine, San Diego Business Journal, KPBS and Langers Juice. The National MS Society’s national Walk MS sponsor is Genentech.
Now in its 27th year in San Diego, Walk MS is known for drawing a large number of teams representing businesses, neighborhoods, clubs, community groups, churches and family members and friends of a person with MS. Many teams come up with a team name and outfit their members with costumes, including T-shirts, hats or balloons. All it takes is four or more people to form a team. Free snacks and beverages will be provided to walkers, plus live music and a festive finish line celebration. Walkers will have the opportunity to earn prizes, including T-shirts, movie tickets and gift cards, based on the amount of donations they collect.
Last year, the San Diego County Credit Union Walk MS at NTC Park drew about 4,500 walkers and volunteers and raised nearly $400,000 in donations.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s San Diego-based Pacific South Coast Chapter serves more than 51,500 people affected by MS living in San Diego, Orange and Imperial counties, as well as the Hawaiian islands.
MS, the most common neurological disease leading to disability in young adults, is typically diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, although an estimated 8,000-to-10,000 children under the age of 18 also live with MS. Two to three times more women than men have been diagnosed with MS. An estimated 2.3 million people live with MS worldwide.
MS symptoms can range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis, as well as blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue and cognitive deficits. Symptoms might be permanent, or they might come and go. By eating away at the coating that allows nerve cells to transmit messages, MS can lead to restrictive or awkward movements and mental gaps, among other problems. Studies indicate that genetic factors may make certain individuals more susceptible to the disease, but there is no evidence that MS is directly inherited.