Residents and business operators from Plumsted and the surrounding area will take a collective step toward finding a cure for brain tumors when they participate in a fundraising walk on May 30.
The fifth annual Walk to End Brain Tumors will have participants strolling along a 1-mile route through downtown New Egypt to raise funds for the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research and Information.
“These walks are important because [brain tumors] are not regularly discussed,” Plumsted resident Bruce Blount said.
Blount is a 20-year survivor of a benign primary brain tumor. He has promoted the walk since 2010 and said he is proud of the steady increase of support the walk has received.
“As word of mouth gets out, we are slowly becoming more popular. We have had more people getting involved each year, and over the past four years we have amassed more than $20,000,” he said.
Last year the New Egypt Walk to End Brain Tumors raised more than $8,000.
The May 30 walk is being held in conjunction with events across the country known as the Grey Ribbon Crusade. “The way [the Musella Foundation does] it is they have walks in many states and we all pool our resources … so they can have a dedicated, learned staff that decides which projects are worthy of our funding,” Blount said.
The Musella Foundation is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity, and 100 percent of the proceeds from each walk help to advance medical research into brain tumors and their potential cure.
Blount said the New Egypt event is supported by groups and businesses that include Celldex Therapeutics, the Brad Kaminsky Foundation and the JFK Neuroscience Institute.
Early registration is $30 for adults. On May 30, on-site registration at 30 Brynmore Road, Plumsted, will begin at 9 a.m. and cost $35 for adults. The registration fee for youths between the ages of 8 and 18 is $15. Each participant may create a mini-website through which friends and family members may offer donations and support. The walk will begin at 10 a.m. For more information, visit hwizathon.com/walktoendbraintumors new-egypt.
— Andrew Martins