Moving toward a cure: Walk MS raises more than $178K at White River State Park

Moving for a cure: Walk MS raises more than $178K at White River State Park

Every year for the past decade, family members and friends of Rosemary Maxson have come together to walk for a cause.

This year held more significance than usual for the group, which calls itself Rosie's Rascals. It was the family's first time participating in Walk MS since Maxson passed away last summer.

For the 1-mile walk, they wore matching shirts that read "and yet she smiled," referring to Maxson, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998.

"That was my mom, no matter what she went through, she smiled," said Maxson's daughter, Missy Bohannon. "We're missing her today."

The rascals are just a few of more than a thousand participants who took part in Walk MS on Saturday, April 15, 2023, at White River State Park in Indianapolis.

A sea of more than a thousand participants, adorned in orange clothing and accessories, gathered at the starting line just before 10 a.m. to embark on 1- and 3-mile routes.

Participants and supporters of the event raised more than $178,000 for the National MS Society, a non-profit dedicated to researching the autoimmune disease with the goal of finding a cure.

Participants who have MS are given bandanas they can wear if they choose, as a way to connect with others living with the disease. Others often wear stickers that say "I walk for," and fill in the blank with a loved one's name.

"There's a lot of people who live with MS who don't want to say anything or don't know where to go, so events like this are great," said Lance Oxley, an Indianapolis participant and member of the board of trustees for the National MS Society.

According to the National MS Society, Walk MS has raised $1 billion since events began across the country in 1988.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Moving toward a cure: Walk MS raises over $178K in Indianapolis