Before sitting down with her family on Thanksgiving Day, Westwood resident Tammy DeWolfe will lace up her sneakers and run for a cure in the 20th Annual Boston Volvo Village Thanksgiving 5K Road Race, which raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Greater New England Chapter.
Tammy knows all too well the effects that multiple sclerosis (MS) can have on individuals and their families, as her husband’s younger brother and sister have been living with the disease for 10 years and nearly 20 years, respectively. She has participated in the Boston Volvo Thanksgiving 5K for the past several years, supporting her family by raising awareness and money to fund MS research through this and other local MS fundraisers.
MS is a potentially disabling disease affecting the brain and spinal cord, which make up the body’s central nervous system, and can cause serious nerve damage, sometimes resulting in slurred speech, loss of vision and inability to walk. There are more than 21,000 individuals and families living with MS right here in New England and as of now, there is no known cure.
“Every family is touched by some sort of disease—whether it’s MS, heart disease or cancer—and I hope that doing my small part each year to support the causes that affect me and my family will bring us one step closer to finding a cure,” Tammy said. “It feels especially nice to do some good around the holidays. I have so much to be grateful for—my husband and son come out each year in the cold to cheer me on during the Boston Volvo 5K and I get to gather with my brother- and sister-in-law and their families afterward for Thanksgiving dinner.”
The Boston Volvo Thanksgiving 5K has become a fixture among Boston running events over the last two decades, attracting thousands of runners each year. Tammy has been participating for several years and estimates she has raised more than $5,000 for the National MS Society through this single event.
For more information, visit www.nationalmssociety.org/volvo5k or donate directly to Tammy’s page here: http://bit.ly/2zFfotf.
