Pine Tree State Parkies Make Their Mark at the Parkinson's Unity Walk

On April 25, 2009 47 people stepped onto a bus in Falmouth, Maine. Some were families, some friends, but each one was a stranger to another. Two days later that all had changed. Their journey together had turned the small world of Parkinsons Disease that they were living in into a Universe filled with hope and inspiration. But they were not alone, they were among 12,000 other strangers that had joined in the fight by against Parkinsons Disease by walking in the 15th Annual Parkinsons Unity Walk in Central Park, New York.

These 47 people collectively made up Team Pine Tree State Parkies. For several months prior to their journey each member of the team began raising funds that would be donated to over 6 Parkinsons organizations to be used for funding research. The walk raised just over 1.1 million dollars. There were over 440 teams and as the team captain of our team I had the duty to be the cheerleader, the voice of encouragement and the sender of the multitude of email reminders to get out and raise that money. Well, I guess all of those emails made a difference, not only did they get out and raise money, they raised BIG money.

Out of those 440 teams I am very proud to say that our team, the Maine Chapter’s team, the Pine Tree State Parkies raised over $25,000 and came in 9th overall. For a first year team we left our mark. We were interviewed for their live webcast, our picture was used on a limited edition coffee mug and just recently it was used in an article in the September 2009 newsletter of the Parkinson Alliance, The Catalyst.

Members of our team were able to receive educational information, meet Doctors and members from all of the most p r omi n e n t P a r k i n s o n s organizations in the country. They walked side by side with famous people such as Former Attorney General Janet Reno and Laila Ali. But most importantly, THEY MADE A DIFFERENCE!

You can be apart of making a difference by joining our team and walking together in the 16th Annual PUW in April 2010. You could be apart of an experience that will open your eyes and expand your world, not to mention create some life long friendships.

To view pictures or for more information about how you can get involved in next years team you can visit our website at www.meapda.org o r email at info@meapda.org. See you in April...let’s make a difference AGAIN! Next year we’ll be #1.