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CommunityTeam Saint Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church will be participating in the Cooley’s...

Team Saint Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church will be participating in the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation 2015 Care Walk

Hellenic News
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By: Aphrodite Kotrotsios

Team Saint Luke’s Greek Orthodox Church of Broomall, PA, will be participating in the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation 2015 Care Walk on May 3, 2015.  The Care Walk will take place at Wilson Farm Park in Wayne, PA.  Members of the community are welcomed to join St. Luke’s team and or sponsor the team in efforts of reaching their fundraising goal for the fight against Thalassemia.  Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder that affects the production of hemoglobin.  Thousands of babies are born every year with this disease and it is most common in people of Mediterranean descent.

As Team Saint Luke’s gears up for the walk, Hellenic News of America sat down with Denise Paschos, team leader of this year’s walk.

 

HNA:  Denise, please share with our readers the community’s response to the care walk? How many participants will you have this year?

Thanks for reading Hellenic News of America

This year we expect about 100 walkers of all ages.  We are honored to have the St. Luke Greek Orthodox Church supporting us and have set a goal of raising $ 10,000 this year.  So far we are at about $4,200.00.  Every Sunday at St Luke’s in Broomall we have a booth set up to sign walkers up and to accept donations, the response from the Greek orthodox community has been amazing.

HNA:  Why is the Care Walk important for the community and for you?

The Care Walk is the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation’s annual fundraising event and opportunity to bring together the Thalassemia community and its supporters around the country. The Care Walk on May 3, 2015 will raise funds to fight Thalassemia.  Those affected with this disease require: blood transfusions every three to four weeks, rigorous chelation therapy to prevent toxic iron buildup in the body and extensive medical treatment to manage the host of complications that this disease causes.  Even with a good treatment regimen, Thalassemia patients often suffer life-threatening complications and negative effects on their quality of life and their lifespan.

The Care Walk is one of the most important fundraising events patients and their families can participate in.  We have been lucky enough to work with like-minded people who have one goal: working towards eradicating Thalassemia!

It gives us the chance to give back to the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation so that they, in turn, can continue their work in helping to cure Thalassemia. The Care Walk is a chance for each of us to give back to an organization that continues to generously hold Patient/Family Conferences, hands out scholarships to our brightest, helps counsel whoever may be in need, keeps us up to date on all of the newest advancements science has to offer, and so on. They wouldn’t be able to do that without our help.

HNA:  Which aspect of the Care Walk do you look forward to the most?

We have been humbled and blessed by how many people have shown us that they care about our family and about how Thalassemia has affected our lives.  I look forward to seeing and spending time with all of the people who took time out of their busy schedules to support us in this fight for a cure.

HNA:  How many Care Walks have you participated in?

This will be our third year.

HNA:  In your own words, why is it important for people to partake in these events?

We hope and pray daily that a cure is found for our daughter and for those patients and families who struggle with this disease every single day.  We are hoping to raise awareness and funds to continue the research to help patients live a full and active life; one that may no longer involve constant needles, hospitals, medications and the like.

Over the last few years, exciting developments have taken place regarding gene therapy that could hold hope for a cure for children born with this disease today and in the future. But there is still a long way to go. Thalassemia is a rare disease and it receives very little funding or support and thus research and progress toward curative therapies is painfully slow.

By supporting 2015 CARE WALK…. whether you walk with us, donate toward our efforts, or spread the word about what we’re doing – you are helping us get closer to a cure for this disease. Together, we can do so much more to fight Thalassemia, than we ever could do alone.

Click HERE to register to walk and/or sponsor our efforts in meeting our fundraising goal

 

Photos are courtesy of Denise Paschos

The copyrights for these articles are owned by the Hellenic News of America. They may not be redistributed without the permission of the owner. The opinions expressed by our authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hellenic News of America and its representatives.

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