Mayor Meeker Honors Efforts of North Raleigh Woman

During the September 1, 2009 Raleigh City Council meeting, Mayor Charles Meeker proclaimed September 2009 as Motor Neuron Disease Awareness Month for the City of Raleigh (see announcement below). Accepting the announcement was Sarah Roberts-Witt, architect and afflatus abaft The Magnificent Mile (www.magmilerace.com), a fundraising accident that allowances the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation and helps armamentarium analysis grants awarded to acquisition a cure for high motor neuron diseases.

"This announcement helps flash much-needed ablaze on attenuate acoustic disorders that accept been too generally in the dark," says Roberts-Witt. "We are so beholden to Mayor Meeker and the Raleigh City Council for allowance us in our adventure to accession accessible acquaintance of motor neuron diseases and their adverse effects."

During the meeting, Mayor Meeker aswell encouraged association to participate and abutment The Magnificent Mile contest accepting captivated on September 12-13 in city Raleigh. The contest cover one-mile runs and walks, family-friendly activities, as able-bodied as an advisory academy to altercate analysis accepting conducted to action these diseases.

The Magnificent Mile is the alone across affairs accurately committed to adopting acquaintance and money to armamentarium analysis of the motor neuron diseases Primary Lateral Sclerosis and Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. In its aboriginal three years, about 1,500 participants accept helped accession added than $100,000 to armamentarium research. More than 750 participants are accepted at the 2009 event. This year's fundraising ambition is $50,000.

For added accident advice or to register, appointment www.magmilerace.com.

About The Magnificent Mile:
Sarah Roberts-Witt, co-founder and afflatus abaft The Magnificent Mile, was an ardent agent and marathoner until developing primary crabbed sclerosis in 2004. She is now bedfast to a wheelchair and is clumsy to speak, but the ache hasn't chock-full her. Since her diagnosis, she has committed her time to aggravating to acquisition a cure-one footfall at a time. This chase combines her adulation of active with her admiration to acquisition a cure for motor neuron disease. The Magnificent Mile contest accept aloft added than $100,000 to armamentarium analysis grants awarded by the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation to advice acquisition a cure for motor neuron disease. Visit www.magmilerace.com.

About Spastic Paraplegia Foundation:
The Spastic Paraplegia Foundation (SPF) is a nonprofit, all-volunteer alignment founded in 2000 and the almsman of the Magnificent Mile Races. Its primary mission is to acquisition a cure for two high motor neuron disorders, primary crabbed sclerosis (PLS) and ancestral spastic paraplegia (HSP), and to accession acquaintance of their adverse effects. Some 92 percent of its funds go to this mission. Since its inception, the SPF has awarded added than $2 actor in analysis grants. Visit www.sp-foundation.org.

Proclamation:

WHEREAS, there are an estimated 30,000 humans with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in the United States; and

WHEREAS, MND is a accumulation of accelerating acoustic disorders that abort cells, which ascendancy capital beef action such as speaking, walking, breathing, and swallowing; and

WHEREAS, 90% of cases of MND are sporadic-meaning that the accommodating has no ancestors history of the ache and there is no accepted could cause for the access of the disease; and

WHEREAS, there is no individual analysis for MND, which makes analysis difficult; and

WHEREAS, there is no cure or accepted analysis for MND.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I, Charles C. Meeker, Mayor of the City of Raleigh, North Carolina, do hereby affirm the ages of September 2009 as Motor Neuron Disease Awareness Month

to accompany absorption to these diseases, the aftereffect these diseases accept on our community, the efforts of bounded researchers, and the charge for added abstraction to advance a cure for these annihilative diseases; and be it further

RESOLVED, that association are encouraged to participate in and abutment The Magnificent Mile events, September 12 and 13, the alone across affairs accurately committed to adopting acquaintance and money to armamentarium analysis of the MNDs Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) and Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP).

Brian Van Norman
919.232.5008
brian@articulon.com