By Treena Mielke
A Teen Burger at Rimbey A & W may not taste any different than usual on Aug. 25, but one can be sure that the somewhere, sometime the money spent on the burger did more than just fill someone’s hungry tummy.
On Aug. 25, 160 A & Ws in Alberta and the Northwest Territories and several hundred across Canada, will participate in ‘Cruisin the Dub’, a fundraiser for the MS Society.
During the day each $1 spent on every Teen Burger will go to the MS Society, with the funds remaining with the society in the area in which that A & W is located.
A & W customers are invited to participate in a fundraising campaign that includes making a donation to purchase a paper license plate with funds going toward the MS society.
Donations may also be made through Facebook and Twitter, and donors may also make a $5 donation through their cellphone by texting MS45678.
Pat Snowie, community outreach coordinator for the MS Society Central Alberta Chapter, said Canadians have one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world and central Alberta is a hot spot for the disease.
She said donations from fundraisers such as ‘Cruisin the Dub’ are used to help finance client services including community outreach, awareness and educational events, table talk sessions, caregiver support groups and advocacy.
MS is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults in Canada and every day three more people in this country are diagnosed.
The disease is most often diagnosed in young adults, aged 15 to 40, but it also affects children and older adults.
Women are more than three times as likely to develop the disease as men. The disease is unpredictable and the symptoms vary and can have devastating emotional and physical effects. Common symptoms include loss of balance, impaired speech, extreme fatigue, double vision and paralysis.
It can also affect vision, hearing and memory.