|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Women Strut The Catwalk To Find A Cure
ORANGE, Conn. The Ladies Philoptochos Society of Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in Orange, Conn., recently hosted a “Hope for a Cure”, a dinner and fashion show to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Greater Connecticut Chapter. The event, held at the Race Brook Country Club in Orange, Conn., raised approximately $4,500.
Hundreds of friends and church members attended the event which spotlighted fashions from the Helen Ainson Shoppe in Darien, Conn.
“My daughter was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996,” said Olympia Hadjimichael, one of the event organizers and Woodbridge, Conn., resident. “My family quickly learned of the effects of MS and we knew, right from that time, the importance of raising funds to find a cure.”
More than 6,000 Connecticut residents live with multiple sclerosis, a chronic and often disabling disease of the central nervous system. There currently is no cure for MS and funds raised through events such as the “Hope for a Cure” Dinner and Fashion Show help to find the cause, treatments and a cure for multiple sclerosis.
The $4,500 raised went directly to the society’s Promise: 2010 campaign, which is an initiative to raise a nationwide total of $30 million by the year 2010 to fund four areas of multiple sclerosis research. The four areas include:
- Nervous System Repair & Protection Initiative in which advances could lead to the ability to protect and repair brain tissue with the hope of reversing damage caused by MS;
- Initiative on Pediatric Treatment to provide specialized care for the 8,000 to 10,000 American youths living with multiple sclerosis;
- MS Lesion Project which will research how to better study lesion pattern so that they can be identified by physicians in a non-invasive manner and prescribe appropriate treatment;
- The Sonya Slifka Longitudinal MS Study in which investigators can examine specific aspects of the impact of existing therapies and symptomatic treatments on disease course, disability and quality of life.
“If we don’t work together to raise funds for MS research, who will?” Hadjimichael added.
 Hadjimichael and her daughter are also members of the Women Against MS (WAMS) luncheon committee. According to statistics, three times as many women are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) as are men. As a result, women across the nation now come together annually, state by state and chapter by chapter, to learn, through inspirational personal accounts, about overcoming the effects of this potentially debilitating disease at local WAMS luncheons. These same women join together to raise critically-needed funds to facilitate scientific research to find a cure. Since 2001, these dynamic groups have been known as Women Against MS or WAMS. The money raised also provides for vital programs and services offered by the Greater Connecticut Chapter.
For more information on the Women Against MS (WAMS) luncheon, contact Kristen Mauro, development specialist, at (860) 714.2300, ext. 224, or e-mail kmauro@ctfightsMS.org. For more information on the Promise: 2010 campaign, contact Kara Preston, development director, at kpreston@ctfightsMS.org.
4/4/07
NOTE TO MEDIA:
For More Information
Contact Melissa Saranitzky
Communications Coordinator
Phone: 860.714.2300, ext. 239
E-mail: msaranitzky@ctfightsMS.org
|
|
|