Annual Walk for MS Will Be Held At Seymour April 28

The Seymour M.S. Walk will be held Saturday, April 28, beginning at 9 a.m. at Glenwood Healthcare.

This is the only fundraising event for the Multiple Sclerosis Society in this area, and a number of people from the Ava area normally participate.

This year, Darla Rein, of Ava, has organized a team of 52 members who will enter as the “Prayer Warriors.” Rein’s team is Team #1 for the MidAmerica region and will lead the walk when it begins at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning.

Pearl Raymond is coordinator of the MS Walk in Seymour and encourages participation from those who are able to walk, to help others who cannot.

Unfortunately, most people who get involved in an event like this do so because they or a loved one has been affected by the disease. For Pearl and her sister, Betty Lile, it was their brother, Walt, who was stricken with MS in 1990. Pearl subsequently became the legal guardian of Walt and his two minor children.

Though Walt passed away in 2002, Raymond has never lost sight of the goal of eradicating MS. If anything, she is working harder than ever for the many affected by MS who need help from volunteers like her.

After she spent time studying the cause and effects of MS, she was tapped to be the chairperson of the Seymour MS Walk.

Now as she enters her 20th year of volunteer work in the fight against MS, she is asking for your help, either as a volunteer or as a walker on April 28.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. at Glenwood Healthcare in Seymour. The walk will begin at 9 a.m., with lunch and awarding of trophies and prizes to follow.

The Ladies Auxiliary of Diggins Lutheran Church have put in many hours of handwork on a beautiful quilt that is being given away next week. The drawing will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at The Seymour Bank.

All proceeds will be donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Fourth and fifth grade classes taught by Mrs. Beth Harris at Seymour made posters for the event that have been displayed in store windows. Some of the posters have made it to Ava and are being displayed in businesses here.

According to the website, MS is a disease of the central nervous system that interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving. Its symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. Worst of all, every hour someone in the U.S. is newly diagnosed with MS.

Statistics show that more than 400,000 people in the United States are affected by MS, but the National MS Society’s MidAmerica Chapter says advances are being made in research and treatment, moving us closer to a world free of MS.

If you would like more information about how you can help, contact Pearl Raymond at 417-935-2502 or 417-536-3558.