- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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The local organization is based in Rochester with branches in other cities. The Syracuse group sent out e-mails saying they were organizing a walk in Ithaca and were looking for volunteers. Rounds signed up. "It's a disease that you don't notice unless someone is in the really advanced stage where their joints are deformed," she says. "But there are a lot of people who have it. A woman on the committee has rheumatoid arthritis and her daughter had it when she was four." The daughter, now 11, will start the walk.
Rounds wanted to be involved because several people in her life suffer from arthritis. Her father and sister both have osteoarthritis, and husband Mike has rheumatoid arthritis. "That affects the joints and inflames them" she says. "It affects your daily routine tremendously, depending on the degree of arthritis that you have. His is to the point where he has injections so he can do activities for a short period of time. Then he gets fatigued and has to rest."
The Ithaca committee, formed earlier this year, so hasn't had much time to get the event organized. They are hoping that at least 50 people will walk their first year. "We are trying to find a band, but haven't been able to get anyone," Rounds says. "Since this is the first year we didn't have a lot of time." The group is approaching local businesses for donations, as well as getting sponsored teams to walk. Individuals can also participate.
Rounds says she was particularly attracted to the Arthritis Foundation because of how donations are used. "The money goes a long way in the Arthritis Foundation. Most of it goes to research. Just a small percentage goes to administrative costs. I've seen other organizations and haven't been as impressed with where the money goes in them."
Registration at the May 6 event will begin in Stewart Park at 10:00am The Walk will start at 11:00am. Teams form ahead of time and get donations from individual or business sponsors. They are encouraged to set and meet a fund raising goal when they form. They will walk in either a one-mile or three-mile walk around Stewart Park. Even those who can't go a full mile are encouraged to walk. "We just want people involved," says Rounds. People who have arthritis will receive a blue hat to help make others aware of the disease.
The money goes to the Arthritis Foundation, whose mission is "to improve lives through leadership in the prevention, control and cure of arthritis and related diseases." "It's not something that goes away," Rounds says. She hopes that the Arthritis walk will help change that.
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