MS Awareness Month leads up to annual MS Walk
By Lethbridge Herald on May 7, 2025.
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
May marks Multiple Sclerosis Awareness month and MS Canada is inviting everyone to take part in this year’s MS Walk and other activities across the country, to raise awareness and funds in support of people affected by the disease.
MS is a neurological disease of the central nervous system and according to MS Canada, Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world. On average, 12 Canadians are diagnosed every day, with most iagnosed between the ages of 20 and 49.
“MS is a continuous disease process that progresses through different stages over time, and everyone experiences it differently as severity, symptoms and response to treatment can vary from one person to the next,” says Nicole Sullivan, director, community fundraiser for MS Canada.
She adds that the unpredictable, episodic yet progressive nature of MS makes it particularly challenging to maintain quality of life. The most common barrier to early diagnosis is a lack of awareness of MS symptoms.
Early diagnosis not only allows for earlier treatment, lifestyle adjustments and care, it can also support brain health in the long term by minimizing disease activity and delaying disability progression, improving one’s quality of life.
In order to find out more about MS, research is necessary, and MS Canada continues to support research efforts through fundraising. One of their biggest fundraising events each year is the annual MS Walk, which takes place in over 50 communities across the country, including Lethbridge.
“Our fundraising goal for the MS Walk across the country is $4 million,” says Sullivan. “Specifically in Lethbridge our fundraising goal is to raise $75,000 and we’re already at $40,000 raised. We are over halfway there and so far, we have 83 participants signed up.”
One of those participants showing up to the MS Walk this year, as she has been doing for the last 20 years, is Jeanene Casson. She has been walking for her daughter Richelle, who was diagnosed with MS in the early 2000s after having her first child.
“My husband and I, family, friends walk to support her and others with MS,” says Casson. “I’m also a Lethbridge MS Canada volunteer and have been for the past 19 years.”
She says her MS Walk team consists of anywhere between 25 to 35 people and they call themselves Casson’s Crew. Some of them have been team members for the last 19 years.
“This year our fundraising goal is $20,000 and over the past 19 years we have been able to raise $334,800 so we have done great as a team and appreciate all the support that we get from family, friends and neighbours,” says Casson.
The MS Walk in Lethbridge will take place on May 25 at Henderson Lake Park at the shoreline pavilion. Registration starts at 10 for those who wish to join on the spot, and the walk begins at 11 after the opening ceremony.
For more information on MS Awareness Month, visit mscanada.ca/msawarenessmonth.
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