LONG WALK FOR A GOOD CAUSE
http://stories.keysnews.com/kwc/282211480655533.bsp
Sunday, November 25, 2001
The trip from Key West to Philadelphia
usually takes five hours, at least two different airplanes and an in-flight
snack.
But for Beth Bevenour, the 1,350-mile
journey will involve 71 days, six pairs of shoes and a lot of steps. The
Key West restaurant worker is walking to the City of Brotherly Love to
raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis.
When Bevenour's sister, Cara Marie
Abbate, was found to have the chronic autoimmune disease last year, Bevenour
realized how little she knew about the potentially debilitating disorder
for which there is no cure.
"I realized that not enough people
know about MS, and I couldn't sit still without helping my sister," Bevenour
said last week in the midst of preparing a Thanksgiving meal, planning
her trip and soliciting sponsors.
She was astonished by the $1,300
per month her sister must spend on interferon medication to stem the reproduction
of the virus. And she wanted to help people in the Keys who are affected
by MS.
Eighty percent of all money raised
in the walk for MS will be donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
and the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, earmarked for use in the
Keys for patient programs and needed equipment. The remaining 20 percent
will be given to Abbate to help defray medical and medication bills.
Since learning of her sister's diagnosis,
Bevenour has been attending monthly meetings of the Saturday Support Group
in Marathon. The meetings are attended by people whose lives have been
affected by the disease that attacks almost twice as many women than men,
and that can cause chronic fatigue, numbness, tremors, loss of balance
and neurological problems.
The support group was created by
Don Kenny and Dana Littleton, both of whom have MS and who had no one with
whom to share their experiences. Now in its eighth month, the group has
earned recognition and approval from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society,
which was at first hesitant to endorse a group, saying there were not enough
people with MS in Monroe County to warrant the group.
Kenny estimates that about 300 people
in the Keys are living with MS, and about 10 percent of them are attending
the monthly meetings.
Bevenour has also been in attendance
and has been paying attention to its members as they discuss symptoms,
drugs, treatments and therapies.
"These people are going to have MS
for the rest of their lives, so is my sister," she said, explaining that
the disease is most often characterized by a pattern of relapse symptoms
followed by periods of remission that may or may not return the patient
to their previous level of health. Also, some MS cases are characterized
by a steady progression of disability with no remission.
Her goal, other than completing the
trek up the East Coast, is to raise $100,000 through a series of corporate
sponsorships and private donations. Several fundraisers are being planned
in Key West, including a Most Beautiful Bartender Contest and a 50/50 Raffle,
in which, Bevenour insists, the winner will be encouraged to keep their
half of the $10,000 rather than being shamed into donating it back to the
cause.
The trip from the Southernmost Point
to the Liberty Bell begins March 24, and Bevenour plans to have a support
team and vehicle with her along the way as she stops to speak and continue
to raise awareness of MS.
Also, the support vehicle will be
needed for the 17.3 miles over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel, which
does not allow pedestrians under any circumstances, Bevenour said laughing.
For more information, or to make
a donation of money or supplies, call 295-2546, or visit http://www.bethswalkforms.org
Story was published in the Key West
Citizen on Sunday, November 25, 2001
BY MANDY BOLEN
Citizen Staff Writer