In 2009 local Edmonton woman, Roxanne Gural, successfully climbed Mt. Kilamanjaro in Africa raising over $10,000 for the MS Society of Canada. This October Roxanne and the MS Climb team will make the trek to the 5200 meter Mt. Everest Base Camp once again with proceeds to the MS Society of Canada. With the success of her fundraising goal last year she has set herself a much loftier goal of $20,000 this year. Her agenda will start on October 11, 2010 in Lukla in eastern Nepal and end on October 23rd in Kathmandu before returning to Canada.
Established in 2008, MS Climb has raised more than $400,000 on behalf of the MS Society of Canada with a 5 year goal to raise $1 million dollars. Based on the current fundraising rate of the team they are on target to surpass this goal set out two years ago. The team has climbed the Inca Trail to the ancient city of Machu Picchu in Peru and Mt. Kilamanjaro in previous years. The funds raised by the team will be used by the Society to fund research programs as well as support families living with MS.
MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults in Canada. Canadians have one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with three people diagnosed with MS every day. Women appear to be three times more likely to develop MS than men. The disease is unpredictable and affect individuals differently but typically affect vision, hearing, memory, balance and mobility. There is currently no cure for MS but with the help of people like Roxanne and her team members who not only fundraise but also bring awareness to the community the answer may be just over the horizon.
For more information on the MS Climb go to www.msclimb.ca or Roxanne's website at www.msclimb.yolasite.com where additional information can be found about this event as well you can donate towards Roxanne's climb directly online.
Roxanne Gural can be contacted at 780-983-3974 or roxannegural@
