A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Pictured in Back L to R: Jenifer Besner, Rebecca Besner, Event Organizer Sandy Bowness, Front L to R: Emily Besner, 84 year old organizer Marcelle Coulas, and Bill Bowness.
Steven Oakes, AKA Solow, performs his blend of Acoustic Folk and Rock at this year’s “Give the Gift of Life Walk.”
On a day nearly identical to last year, brisk and beautiful, people gathered in Cornwall’s Lamoureux Park to participate in this year’s “Give the Gift of Life Walk.” The walk aims to raise funds for the Kidney Foundation of Ontario. Kidney Disease affects nearly one in ten Canadians and of the five stages of development, by stage 3 or 4, the patient is on dialysis. For Natives, this offers a bleak prognosis as, statistically, they are less likely to receive a kidney transplant, and the average life expectancy while on dialysis is approx. 9 years.
Participants who walked the five kilometer course were treated to a lunch after their walk. Those on dialysis and some elderly participants only walked 1 kilometer. Shortly after all the walkers returned, the two motorcycle clubs that participated in this year’s walk, the Road Snakes and Canadian Motorcycle Cruisers, began to return as well.
Also at the Walk was Jenifer Besner, who for a science project made a DVD about her grandmother’s dialysis. Jenifer’s video was shown on the source, and showed the different stages of Hemodialysis.
This year’s walk was bigger than the last in most ways, there was a bigger turn out, they raised more money, and there was more entertainment. Perpetual Emotion and Cornwall Island’s Steven Oakes, or Solow, donated their time to help the cause. Oakes doesn’t have any ties to Kidney disease, but was there to lend his talents just the same.
Oakes said, “Helping any fundraiser is beneficial, and I’m trying to assist any way I can.”
Bruce Hill, Senior Development Manager with the Kidney Foundation of Canada, was on hand for the event. Hill has a personal connection with kidney disease, having lost his father just two years ago to the disease.
Hill said, “The two big drivers for kidney disease are high blood pressure and diabetes. If you have either one of those, and your doctor hasn’t talked to you about kidney disease, please do so the next time you see your doctor. It’s a simple blood test to determine if you have it, and we have to do it, all of us, take our health management to heart. Do your homework and research.”
At the start of the event, it looked as though approximately $9000 was raised which exceeded expectations and showed just how much effort and support the event is drawing.
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