National MS Society getting ready to scare up some fun in Bakersfield

Oct. 6, 2011 - PRLog -- Bakersfield – Orange is the color for October, the color for fall, and the color for a cure!  The National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, Southern California & Nevada Chapter, is getting ready to hold its 11th annual Walk MS on October 22 at Yokuts Park and participants can once again expect to see festive Halloween fun along the route as they raise money to move us one step closer toward a world free of MS.

More than 1,200 people are expected to join Sen. Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), Sen. Michael Rubio (D-Bakersfield), and Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall at Walk MS to help raise the goal of $106,000.  Funds raised will support direct services for those living with MS and their families in Kern County, along with MS research to find a cure for this chronic disease of the central nervous system.  “I’m not a scientist, so I can’t come up with a cure,” said Lindsay Roberts, the top fundraiser for 2010.  “But I can fundraise, and that’s how I’m going to make sure we end multiple sclerosis.”

With Walk MS happening just over a week before Halloween, many festive surprises will be waiting for participants during opening ceremonies at 8:30 am, along the one- or three-mile haunted trails of Yokuts Park, and at the finish line.  Every walker will also be treated with a medal, along with live music by the band No Limit, entertainment for the entire family (including a clown and face painter), and food provided by Santa Barbara Pizza and Chicken and RJ’s.  Those in attendance will also be able to purchase tickets for great prizes given out during an opportunity drawing.

People can participate individually or as a team.  Volunteers are also needed.  For more information or to sign up, visit www.walkMSsocal.org, call 661.321.9512, or email christine.grontkowski@nmss.org.

About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and it stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. 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 2.1 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. In 2010 alone, through our national office and 50-state network of chapters, we devoted $159 million to programs and services that improved the lives of more than one million people.  To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested $37 million to support 325 new and ongoing research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS NOW.  Join the movement at nationalMSsociety.org.