A sea of purple took over Osprey Village recently to raise thousands in the hopes of finding a cure for ALS.
More than 60 participants walked, ran, or rolled along the Trans Canada Trail by Shoreline Park in Pitt Meadows for Move to Cure ALS on June 12 and raised $13,867.50 for the cause by Thursday, June 23.
It was the first in-person event since 2019.
Across the province $503,826.91 had been raised by June 23, about 50 per cent of the $1,000,000 goal.
According to ALS Canada, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – also known as ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or motor neuron disease – is a disease that gradually paralyzes a person because the brain is no longer able to communicate with the muscles of the body. Some living with the disease lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, swallow, and even breathe. There is currently no cure and few treatment options.
Traci MacLean was the captain for Team Rob who joined in the Pitt Meadows walk. The 14 member team surpassed their goal of $1,000, raising $1,955 for the society. The group was walking with the hope of making clinical trials and research available to those affected by the disease in the proving – in honour of Rob, who lost a two and a half year battle with the disease in January.
READ MORE: Society campaigns to make Canada No. 1 for clinical trials
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All money raised through Move to Cure ALS will stay in B.C. and the Yukon, with 60 per cent of donations going to support patient care and 40 per cent to support research through Project Hope.
The goal of the ALS Society of B.C. is to find a cure for the disease by creating a world class ALS Centre at the University of British Columbia.
The goal of the Tri-Cities event that took place in Pitt Meadows is $40,000.
To donate go to secure2.convio.net/alsbc/site/TR/WalkforALS/ALSBCTeamRaiser?pg=entry&fr_id=1813.
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