5th yearly Parkinson’s walk raises more than $57,000
Leslie Philp
The Fifth Annual Parkinson’s walk-a-thon known as “Walk-The-Fight” was held this past Sunday on Feb. 13. Participants were encouraged to work in teams and fundraise to help exceed the goal of 60,000 dollars.
“Last year we walked all the way up to Scottsdale Road and across and back,” said Suzanne Roderick, a member of Suzie’s Team. “It was pretty hard for me because I’m the one with Parkinson’s.It was really worth it because we had our whole family there.”
Attendees could choose between a 5k walk and a 2 block walk around Tempe Town Lake.
Alyssa Harrison, a volunteer stationed at the poster making booth, signed up for the event through her high school.
“I just signed up at my high school,” stated Harrison.
Also featured was the band Decades, face painting, a magician, raffle tickets for Celebrity Fight Night, and appearances from the Phoenix Suns Gorilla, Baxter the Bobcat from the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Sparky from the ASU Sun Devils.
“This is our individual team,” said Grandma’s Corner team member, Kurt Schoop of the teal shirts. “.the red shirts are for the whole event.”
“The person that we’re here representing, she’s.my boss’s mom. She’s had Parkinson’s for 38 years so we’re here to walk for her. Most of us work for Cox, but (there are) also a lot of friends and family (walking),” Schoop said.
The festival also featured catering from Riteway Catering BBQ and Co., Paradise Melts, and Jamburritos Cajun Grille Express. Not only did the mascots make an appearance at the “big foot race” but local news station CBS5 came out to support.
“We get involved in the community as much as we can and this is one of our pay it forward events,” said Paul Horton, a CBS5 employee. “We’ve got about 80 employees from CBS5 involved with this. We’re a team member with SCAN and of course a benefit to help fight Parkinson’s and that’s what we’re doing here today.”
“The money raised today will go in to help the center and help activities for folks with Parkinson’s,” Horton said.
The event was sponsored by Parkinson’s Network of Arizona (PNA), SCAN (Health Plan Arizona), CBS5, and a number of vendors in support of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Center (MAPC).
“Basically we asked folks to get teams together, sign up for this great event, and then.raise some money. We’ve raised so far over 57,000 dollars just from this walk alone” Horton said.
PNA membership is open to anyone willing to participate and mail-in-donations are welcome.
