The City declares May as MS Awareness Month. Mayor Gerald Aalbers and MS Society Lloydminster Chapter Manager Patty Milnthorp both signed the proclamation, as well as raised the MS flag on Monday to kick off the month.
Both Alberta and Saskatchewan have some of the highest rates of MS in Canada. Milnthorp says that this is a very important day for them to recognize the people dealing with MS.
“It highlights the struggle that our people go through everyday and raises awareness in our community. It amps up everything for our walk that’s on Saturday.”
The MS Walk is a big part of raising funds for the MS Society in Lloydminster. The proceeds go towards research and community support. Milnthorp says that in Canada approximately one in 340 people have MS.
“We have a lot of people that come into our office every year, probably one every two weeks that’s newly diagnosed, sometimes they just come in for information and sometimes it’s information and support, but they come in needless to say.”
There will be events taking place in the City for the kick off week. Integra Engineering will have a pancake breakfast on Tuesday, Exhile Reloaded will have a shoot for a donation to MS on Wednesday and on Thursday 5 per cent of Boston Pizza sales will go to MS if it is mentioned to the server.