(Long Island, NY) The Scleroderma Foundation / Tri-State, Inc. Chapter will hold the 12th annual Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma Long Island walk in Wantagh Park on Sunday, June 7, 2015. Registration and check-in start at 9 a.m. and the walk on the one mile course begins at 10:30 a.m.
Join Long Island walk leaders Barbara Geller, Melissa Coppola, Dawn Selg, along with patients, families, and friends for a lively and fun event that raises money for support services and research. The walk helps bring awareness of scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that affects the body’s connective tissue impacting an estimated 30,000 men, women, and children in the Tri-State area – for which there is no known cause and no cure. Food, raffles, and entertainment round out a great day at the park!
Participants can register to walk or sponsor a walker online at http://walks.SclerodermaTriState.org before the event. The pre-walk registration fee is $20 for participants 16 years and older, $5 for children ages 5 to 15, and children under five are free. Registration forms and donations can also be mailed to the Tri-State office. Day of event registration is $25 for participants 16 years and older. All registered participants receive a T-shirt, and awards are given to the individual and team that raise the most money.
The Scleroderma Foundation Tri-State Chapter works to support patients and families, and has advocated for resources to help find a cure for this disease for more than 30 years. Events like the Long Island walk along with the Nassau/Queens and Long Island support groups are means of helping connect and support people living with this mysterious and frequently disabling disease.
Tri-State Chapter Executive Director, Jay Peak, states that, “The Long Island walk provides a central meeting place for many on Long Island who are impacted by scleroderma. While the disease has no cure, caring health care professionals along specialized research and treatment centers like the North Shore-LIJ Health System; Division of Rheumatology are vital to helping patients endure the ups and downs of scleroderma and associated conditions.”
This Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma walk is one of fourteen throughout the Tri-State area and is central to our June Scleroderma Awareness Monthactivities. We will also support an international social media campaign, “Hard Word. Harder Disease.” sponsored by three leading scleroderma organizations and aimed at increasing awareness of scleroderma. Through Facebook posts (facebook/SFTriState), Tweets (@sclerodermaTS) and a series of blogger network posts, we are encouraging people to learn more and take a pledge to tell others. The pledge and some great information about scleroderma can be found at www.hardword.org. Our awareness efforts culminate when the Scleroderma Foundation joins organizations around the world in recognizing June 29 as World Scleroderma Awareness Day.
Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma is sponsored in part by Diamond Sponsors, Bethpage Federal Credit Union and Marion Brucker Legacy Fund; National Gold Sponsors, Actelion Pharmaceuticals and Bayer; platinum sponsor, Val Fenti; gold sponsor AriZona Beverage Co; silver sponsors Advantage Group, Justine M. Metz Fund, Land Baron Abstract Company, Inc., Telephonics Corp,and Turan Family Foundation; and bronze sponsors Raiser & Kenniff, P.C., IGG America, Hellma USA, Fusco, and Brandenstein & Rada, P.C.
For more information on scleroderma and the Scleroderma Foundation / Tri-State, Inc. Chapter, call (800) 867- 0885 or visit www.SclerodermaTriState.org. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
About Scleroderma
Scleroderma [skler-o-derma] is a chronic, often progressive, autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks one’s body.
Scleroderma means “hard skin.” It can cause a thickening and tightening of the skin. In some cases, it causes serious damage to internal organs including the lungs, heart, kidneys, esophagus and gastrointestinal tract. As scarring, or sclerosis, of these organs and organ systems progress, they work less effectively, and can lead to organ failure and death.
Some medications and treatments can help with certain symptoms, but there is no cure for scleroderma. The disease affects about 300,000 people across the U.S. There are an estimated 30,000 cases of scleroderma in the Tri-State Chapter’s New York, New Jersey and Connecticut service area.
About the Scleroderma Foundation / Tri-State Inc., Chapter
The Scleroderma Foundation/Tri-State Inc., Chapter is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving people living with scleroderma in New York, northern New Jersey and Connecticut. The chapter has a three-fold mission which is to promote the welfare of individuals and families affected by scleroderma, increase public awareness and support scleroderma research.
The organization helps scleroderma patients and their families cope with the disease through support groups, educational forums, physician referrals and educational information such as articles, books and DVDs, available through our lending library and a growing number of videos online atwww.sclerodermavideo.com.
More about the work and mission of the Tri-State Chapter can be found atwww.SclerodermaTriState.org. Keep up-to-date on events and other happenings on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SFTriState) on Twitter (@sclerodermaTS) and on Instagram (sclerodermatristate).
About the Scleroderma Foundation
The Scleroderma Foundation is the national organization for people with scleroderma, their families and friends. It was formed Jan. 1, 1998, by a merger between the United Scleroderma Foundation and the Scleroderma Federation.
The Scleroderma Foundation is headquartered in the metro Boston area in Danvers, Mass. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to serving the interests of people living with scleroderma. The Foundation has a network of 22 chapters and 150 support groups committed to carrying out the three-fold mission of support, education and research. The Scleroderma Foundation is the largest nonprofit funder of peer-reviewed medical research, making available at least $1 million per year in new research grants to find the cause, better treatments, and a cure for scleroderma.
For more information about the Scleroderma Foundation, visit www.scleroderma.orgor call (800) 722-HOPE (4673). You also can find the Foundation on Facebook (www.facebook.com/sclerodermaUS) and Twitter (@scleroderma).
