Pictured is Toya Price, who started the upcoming inaugural MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Walk and fundraiser happening this Saturday at Newkirk Park. Her goal is to spread awareness on the disease and advocating for a cure, as she herself was diagnosed with MS in 2017.
Courtesy photo
A new march and community event for a cause is stepping its way into Sampson County this coming weekend. At its aim, supporting those who suffer from Multiple Sclerosis, commonly known as MS.
The event, which doubles as a fundraiser, is set for this coming Saturday, March 22, with the festivities getting underway from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration is required to be a part of the walk, which starts up at 9 a.m. at Newkirk Park in Clinton.
“We’re having an MS Walk, which this is my first MS Walk,” said Toya Price, event founder. “The contributions will be donated to the National MS Society to help in their fight to find a site cure.”
Price said her desire to start the walk came from a personal place, as she has suffered from MS for over seven years.
“I was diagnosed with MS back in 2017,” she said. “For the longest time I was in denial about it, and it just started affecting my body more now. So I figured I would just take ownership of and try to find a way to help the MS Society continue its fight to get this thing addressed and cured.”
Price said raising awareness is much needed due to strong lack of knowledge about MS in general.
“That part of why I started this event because a lot of people just don’t know about MS,” Price said. “I mean, a lot of people hear about MS, but they don’t even know what MS stand for, and they don’t know how severe it is and how it can attack your body, they just don’t know what’s behind it. So I just want to bring the awareness about it to people’s attention on how it can affect your body, mobility, brain, thinking, even your speech, all that stuff.”
It’s spreading that education on MS, Price said, was her other main reasoning for wanting to bring the event to the community.
“My main thing is pretty much people educating themselves,” she said. “Because, for the longest, I had symptoms that I just ignored. It was little, minor symptoms at first that I ignored, falling, and just thinking I was clumsy, forgetting things, just thinking, hey, I’m getting older, and I’m going to forget things.
“But, all that time, not knowing that it was lesions on my brain and lesions on my spine, that was starting to affect my mobility, my thinking skills,” Price added. “Those were triggers to let me know, hey, there’s something going on with my body. And the entire time, it was MS attacking my system.”
If gaining educational knowledge on MS or marching for Price’s cause wasn’t enticing enough, she said more fun is planned for the event, including a raffle.
“The event will have a raffle, and all the proceeds goes to the National MS Society,” she said. “There’s going to be music and there will be a dance studio offering a fun little dance class.”
Among those raffles are prizes from donationed services from local business, which are how proceeds for the fundraiser are being collect. These raffles included a 50/50, along with prizes for a $1,000 tree removal service from Da’Joneses Tree Removal Service. Plus raffle prizes for services from Misty Jones Professional Life, Christan Coach Service, Show Rooms Furniture, Clinton Applicance and Safelite. Also with those are two gas card raffles compliments of Gridiron Gym and The Rink, and raffle prices for each prize are either $5 or a $1.
While it wasn’t among the raffles prizes, Simply Delicious will be on location selling funnel cakes, who also helping raise funds to go towards the MS cause.
Multiple sclerosis, according to www.mayoclinic.org, is a disease that causes breakdown of the protective covering of nerves. Multiple sclerosis can cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes and other symptoms. It’s also known as MS.
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers, known as myelin. This interrupts communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Eventually, the disease can cause permanent damage of the nerve fibers.
There’s no cure for multiple sclerosis. However, there are treatments to help speed the recovery from attacks, modify the course of the disease and manage symptoms.
Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.