Bay of Plenty residents are encouraged to join The Tauranga Walk 2 D'Feet this Sunday to raise at least $4000 in funds locally for Motor Neurone Disease in New Zealand.
The 3km wheel-friendly, pram and stroller-friendly walk, starting at Fergusson Park this Sunday morning, is of 14 nationwide raising funds for the MND Association of NZ and supporting people with the condition.
Organisers are hoping people supporting the Tauranga Walk can bring in $4000 – and MND NZ's national president Beth Watson hopes to surpass the $50,000 mark nationally from the 14 walks.
'I think we're almost there now. I've been blown away by how many people have engaged with the idea, and used social media to share the love.”
Half of the funds raised will go to MND research in NZ, while the remainder will go to MND NZ to support to people with the condition and their carers.
Beth says field workers are a real lifeline. 'People with MND have about 10 or 15 different health professionals involved with their care, so you can imagine they feel they get swamped.
'Our field workers monitor them and make sure the right people are in touch with them at the right time.”
And Beth would love to find a cure for MND, saying the research funds will be greatly appreciated.
'Our goal is to establish a register of people with MND in NZ. Once it's established, the records show a lot more research will take place in NZ.”
Beth says the walks seem to have captured peoples' imaginations. 'One of the things I've realised is it gives the community a sense of the purpose of fundraising, so they've gotten behind it. It's a wonderful opportunity.”
The Tauranga Walk 2 D'Feet MND this Sunday, September 25, starts at Fergusson Park, Tilby Drive, Matua, at 10.30am.
But participants can register and pick up a T-shirt and merchandise from 9am. You can walk all or part of the route, run it – or you don't have to walk at all!
'It's hard to tell how many [Tauranga] walkers we'll get, as last year half of them turned up on the day, but we're hoping for about 200 people,” says Beth.
'People living with MND face challenges every day – so we are not planning to let ‘average' weather deter us,” says Beth.
If conditions are extreme, a notice will be at: www.facebook.com/mndanz
For more information, see: www.everydayhero.co.nz/event/MNDwalk2016-Trga