Tri-City residents can join thousands of B.C. citizens next month to help tens of thousands of British Columbians with kidney disease.
The fourth annual Tri-Cities Kidney Walk is set for Sunday, Aug. 19 and will help promote organ donor awareness and raise funds for the estimated 240,000 British Columbians who have kidney disease or who are at risk for the disease. The event will take place at 9 a.m. at Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam's Town Centre Park.
According to a press release from the Kidney Foundation of Canada's B.C. branch, people living with kidney disease have to spend up to 15 hours a week on dialysis, making it difficult for them and their families. Currently, 430 British Columbians are waiting for a transplant and most of those are waiting for a kidney.
The Kidney Foundation is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization that helps improve the lives of people affected by kidney disease. Funds raised at events such as the Tri-Cities Kidney Walk provide education and support, and increase public awareness of kidney health and organ donation, as well as ongoing research that provides improved treatment options. This year, 19 B.C. communities are holding walks.
For more information about the Tri-Cities walk, visit www.tricitieskidneywalk.ca.
For more information about kidney health and organ donation, visit www.kidney.bc.ca.
ALS WALK AUG. 11
You can take a walk and aid a cause next month in Coquitlam.
The second annual Tri-Cities Walk for ALS is set for Saturday, Aug. 11 at Lafarge Lake in Town Centre Park. This fun-filled event will kick off at 10 a.m., with the walk beginning at 11 a.m.
The Tri-Cities Walk for ALS will feature live music, raffle prizes, AN M&M Meats barbecue, refreshments from Starbucks, facing painting and a bouncy castle for children.
Proceeds from this event go to the ALS Society of BC to fund research and to provide support for those living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS is a fatal neuromuscular disease that affects the person's motor neurons, which carry messages to the muscles. When these muscles fail to receive messages, they lose strength, atrophy and die, leaving the person immobilized.
For more information on ALS and the walk, visit www.walkforals.ca.
