CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Local woman, team raising funds for Parkinson's

Record Observer - 4/13/2018

CHESTER - April is Parkinson's Awareness Month. Local woman Melinda Bain is on a mission to inform the Mid-Shore community about this widespread degenerative neurological disorder and ask for support raising funds for Parkinson's research. On Wednesday, April 18, from 5 p.m. to close, join Bain and her supporters at El Jefé Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar.

El Jefe has generously offered to donate 10 percent of their sales from that evening to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Bain said she and others will be there answering questions anyone may have about Parkinson's Disease and pigging out out for Parkinson's on great Mexican food. DJ Kris - Kris Stone - will donate his time that evening as well.

"Parkinson's Disease became a part of my family's life 15 years ago when I began exhibiting my first symptoms of PD in my late 30s," said Bain. "As is common, I was misdiagnosed for seven years before being told I have Young Onset Parkinson's Disease." After a few years of adjusting and coming to terms with it, Bain said she started to be active in the local PD community. There she meet Jim Barry, and together they started the Kent County Parkinson Support Group. This group meets the first Thursday of every month at 4:30 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church in Chestertown.

Bain also participates in a Rock Steady Boxing class offered at Island Athletic Club. The class led by Lyn Sutton is supported in part by the MD Association for Parkinson's Support and offers low-cost classes for individuals with Parkinson's. Vigorous exercise is the only thing proven to slow down the progression of Parkinson's, Bain said. And Bain is dedicated to letting people in the area know there is support locally for Parkinson's.

Last year at the Parkinson Advocacy Forum in Washington, D.C., Bain met several of the founders of Tips for Parkinson D.C. and was asked to create a team and compete in a new fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Sheila Barry (Jim's wife) and Dr. Laurie Lewis joined with Bain, and they became the Chesapeake Shake, Rattle ?n' Rollers. In 2017, they raised over $10,000 and won the first Tips-DC trophy. Bain says they are hoping to successfully defend their title this year together with new team member, Negar DiPietro.

"More importantly," said Bain, "we want to raise the critical funds needed to find a cure for PD."

According to research statistics provided by the foundation, currently some 1 million Americans, and more than 6 million people worldwide, are suffering with Parkinson's Disease. Those numbers are projected to double by 2040. Neurologist Ray Dorsey, M.D., has said if this (PD) was an infectious disease instead of a neurological disorder it would be considered a pandemic.

"Pandemics are usually equated with infectious diseases like Zika, influenza and HIV," said Dorsey. "But neurological disorders are now the leading cause of disability in the world and the fastest growing is Parkinson's disease ... between 1990 and 2015, the prevalence of Parkinson's more than doubled, and it is estimated that 6.9 million people across the globe have the disease. By 2040, researchers believe that number of people with Parkinson's will grow to 14.2 million as the population ages and the rate of growth will outpace Alzheimer's. These estimates are likely conservative due to underreporting, misdiagnosis, and increasing life expectancy."

Bain said her team is asking the community to help speed a cure for Parkinson's by donating through team Chesapeake SRR to the MJFF for Parkinson's Research during April. All donations will go directly to fund research - none will go to administrative costs, Bain said. People can help by joining them at El Jefe on Wednesday, or we would love to have more teams representing the Chesapeake area by creating a 1-6 person team to raise funds for the MJFF through Tips-Dc 2018, Bain said.

Supporters are also invited to join the fun on May 9 in D.C. as the top eight fundraising teams will battle it out for Tips for Parkinson's by bartending. The top eight fundraising teams will debut a custom cocktail and entry to the event includes two drink tickets and unlimited food from Provision No. 14, music and a silent auction will also be offered. To purchase tickets or learn more visit https://tips.michaeljfox.org/washingtondc or contact Melinda Bain at Bainstintz@yahoo.com.

Nationwide News