JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nearly 1,000 people came out to Friendship Fountain Saturday morning for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s annual Walk MS, an event aimed at raising money for research, expanding access to treatment and showing support for families living with the chronic neurological disease.
The organization says nearly one million people in the United States have been diagnosed with the disease, including thousands in Florida.
Recommended Videos
“Because of events like Walk MS, the MS Society has been able to fund all of the available treatments that are on the market for MS,” said Amy Loeber, the society’s coordinator of Fundraising, Community and Endurance events for the Florida/Southeast region.
Walkers picked up T-shirts and colored signs marking their connection to the mission: orange for those personally living with MS, yellow for supporters and green for people who have a loved one with MS.
For some, the walk was a chance to remember loved ones.
“I am walking today for my son,” said Diedre Gullett. “He passed away in 2020.”
Lora Smith, Mack Smith and Angela McRae walked for a family member who also passed away at a young age from the disease.
“A lot of times we just don’t know how to navigate the system to find those resources that family needs,” Smith said. “And I’m just super excited to see the level of support for the families that are dealing with MS.”
Beyond fundraising, the event also focused on connecting families with resources, organizers said. Vendors and tents lined the area, and attendees recorded moments on their phones as the crowd gathered before the walk began.
Pediatric neurologist Loren McLendon from Nemours Children’s Health said her work often begins with helping children and teens adjust to a new diagnosis.
“They think that, ‘Oh no, now something’s wrong with me and I can’t get better,’” McLendon said. “And I’m there to tell them, ‘Yes, we have treatments to help this get better quicker and the treatments to prevent it from happening again.’”
Walk MS has another set of events in the sunshine state next weekend in both Orlando and Tampa.