FARMINGTON — Maine residents are rallying at Community Center on Saturday, Sept. 29, for Walk MS 2012. Money raised will help fight multiple sclerosis, which afflicts more than 3,000 Maine residents and their families.

Check-in is at 9 a.m. and the walk begins at 10. Walkers follow a 2.5 mile path from the center, with a one-mile route option available.

Each walker has agreed to raise a minimum of $25, but most average more than $200.

Organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Greater New England Chapter, more than 200,000 walkers participate nationwide in Walk MS each year at more than 600 sites, raising more than $30 million.

“Without Walk MS, we wouldn’t have the funds for newly diagnosed education and support,” said Heidi Eastman, programs manager. “Without Walk MS, we’d be set back 50 years to a time when there were no approved treatments for MS, and there was very little understanding about how MS works.”

Last year, nearly 10,000 walkers participated in Walk MS throughout Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont and raised more than $2.6 million. Eighty-five percent of the money raised by the chapter provides MS education, support, advocacy and services in the local community, while funding cutting edge research into prevention, treatment and cure.

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease that affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50. More than twice as many women as men have the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the United States and 2.1 million worldwide.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society helps each person address the challenges of living with MS. Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis.

Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at www.MSnewengland.org, or 1-800-344-4867.

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