First Annual Wellington North Walk for ALS a huge success!

June 9, 2010 

The weather may have been mixed but the mood was definitely up for the First Annual Wellington North Walk for ALS in Mount Forest on Saturday.

The 5K walk took place on the outdoor track of the Victory Community Centre grounds.  Registration for the event opened at 9:30 a.m. and the walk itself began just around 11.

The Walk’s main focus is to raise awareness for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and to raise funds for research in hopes of finding a cure.

Ashley Teeter, walk coordinator for this first Annual Walk for ALS, has a personal connection to this disease and everyone felt her emotion in attendance. Her father, Kevin Teeter, was diagnosed with ALS in 2008 and he fought a long, hard battle not just for himself but also for others afflicted with the disease.  His journey may have ended this past March but his family, and their combined strength, is continuing his fight. The event saw many personal connections to this disease, and the t-shirts with the names of loved ones now gone was a silent reminder of the toll ALS has had on this town and its surrounding communities.

During Ashley’s talk with the participants she spoke about her father and you could see and hear his strength in her. Ashley asked for a minute of silence to remember those who couldn’t be there, those who are living with ALS and those affected by the disease. Wellington North Mayor Mike Broomhead welcomed all participants to the event, saying he was very impressed with the number of people from out of town who had come to take part in the walk. He gave special thanks to the Teeter Family for spearheading the walk and also thanked the people of Mount Forest for their sense of community spirit and willingness to help others.?Michael Feraday, Vice President of the ALS Society of Ontario, also took part in the opening ceremony and spoke highly of the community and its support of this event. There are a total of 30 walks taking place across Ontario this year with the hopes of raising 1.5 million dollars.

Anyone who would like to make a charitable donation of the ALS society may do so by going to  http://www.alsont.ca. After a brief warm up, the participants were asked to make their way to the start/finish line for the ribbon cutting ceremony. With the Teeter family, friends and Mayor Mike Broomhead the ribbon was cut and the walk commenced.

The event raised over $23,000 towards ALS research, quite an accomplishment for those involved and for those that sponsored the walkers.  

Source: Mount Forest Confederate
Article written by Narda Elvidge