By Elizabeth Willoughby on
Country music star Clay Walker and his charity, Band Against MS Foundation (BAMS), have just donated $25,000 to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Having been diagnosed with the disease in ’96, Walker has a personal interest in the success of research into finding a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). He decided he wanted to contribute by providing information about MS both to the public and to others with the disease, and fund research to find that cure. To enable this, in 2003 he created BAMS.
“Being diagnosed with MS hasn’t been easy. (But) I have been blessed to still be able to do the things I love. I know not everyone who is diagnosed with MS is that lucky,” says Clay.
Multiple Sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. The progress and severity cannot be predicted, and symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. Most diagnosis occur between the ages of 20 and 50, in over twice as many women as men, and affect more than 2.5 million worldwide.
Says BAMS director Kyle Frederick, “It is very important to remember that MS is the leading cause of non-traumatic disability in young people throughout the world, and the Band Against MS Foundation is committed to helping find a cure.”
Earlier this year, Clay donated 100 aluminum rolling walkers to his local MS chapter, Lone Star, for the annual autumn walkathons that raise money to support MS research. The walkers supplied an extra 100 MS sufferers with the means to participate in the September event.
This Saturday, Walker partners with Texas radio station FM100.3 KTEX to host a benefit golf tournament, and then the same evening will perform in concert, all for BAMS.
Walker and BAMS have pledged two more $25,000 donations to Vanderbilt over the next two years.
Copyright © 2007 Look to the Stars
