All about Walk and Rolls
Walk and Rolls are for patients, families, and friends, to engage and participate in helping the foundation build awareness of GBS, CIDP, MMN and variants in their communities and to have some fun! It is also a great chance to meet other patients and perhaps gain some friendships as you walk or roll. Through participation we are able to raise funds to support our programs that help patients and their families, or directed toward Canadian research that must benefit the GBS, CIDP, or MMN patient journey through such work as better diagnostics, treatments, rehabilitation protocols or perhaps a cure. A decision of where the Walk and Roll funds are directed is decided in coordination with the Walk and Roll Chair.
We encourage you to join us in a Walk and Roll, and to invite your friends, families, co-workers, and community to join with us as we work to support patients who have been afflicted by our debilitating neuromuscular conditions.
Canadian Walk and Rolls have funds sent to 2 areas, programs and/or Canadian research. The Foundation is able to raise some funds through sponsors, but we do not receive funds from Government sources or any other foundations. The funds we raise through Walk and Rolls are primarily used for program initiatives such as:
Support – online and in-person meetings, patient advocacy, and hospital visitation
Medical professional education and outreach
Patient education
Website and social media
Advocacy
Volunteer support, training, and recruitment
We are very excited to return to in-person Walk and Rolls in 2022! We will be walking or rolling by following municipal Covid-19 guidelines for safety of all participants.
Walk and Roll History in Canada
In 2007, the 1st annual Hike For GBS was held at Kortright Centre. Years passed and the walk committee in 2010 came up with a new name. The Woodstock, Ontario walk on that September 11th was named ‘Walk, Run, or Roll’. Sound familiar?
There were a few years that Walk and Rolls in Canada didn’t get off the ground, but with some interest from the community to hold a Walk and Roll in 2018 in honor of patient and co-worker, Laura Rutherford (Calgary Liaison), the awareness walk was reignited in Calgary, AB and has become an annual awareness campaign in participating locations across Canada.
The Walk and Roll awareness fundraiser has been going strong ever since. Be sure to check back to our Walk and Roll schedule to see if your local community is participating or if there is a walk you’d like to join virtually.
Why You Should Participate
Everyone has their own reason that motivates them to join a GBS/CIDP Foundation of Canada Walk and Roll. Perhaps a family member, friend, or a co-worker has developed GBS, CIDP or MMN. They may have seen information in a local news story or on social media. Whatever the connection you have to GBS, CIDP, and the variant community, we invite you to work with us in our goal of supporting patients and families through diagnosis, recovery, and beyond.
Walk and Roll events provide people in the community with an opportunity to support the Foundation as well as to meet other patients along their healing journey. The opportunity to come together as a group enables patients to interact with others in a similar situation and to know that they are not alone. Chairing a walk or building a team in honor of a loved one is a great way to show your support.
Walk and Rolls play a major role in GBS/CIDP Foundation of Canada’s plan to Support, Educate, Research, and Advocate.
About the GBS / CIDP Foundation of Canada
Our Mission:
To engage in advocacy, including treatment access,(at the federal, provincial and grassroots levels) to improve the quality of life for individuals and families affected by GBS, CIDP, or variants such as MMN.
Our Vision:
Every person affected by GBS, CIDP, or variants such as MMN, will have access to early and accurate diagnosis, expert interdisciplinary treatment and support, and through continued research, a cure will be developed.
About our Roots
The GBS/CIDP Foundation of Canada was started at a kitchen table between patients and family members that ran GBS support groups. Founding Director, Susan Keast, along with her husband Walter Keast and other patients from Ontario and Manitoba, decided to become a registered Charity and gained status in November 2003. The GBS|CIDP Foundation International helped Susan with a loan and guidance during the process. A Board of Directors was formed and Dr. Angelika Hahn acted as an advisor in building the Medical Advisory Board of Canadian neuromuscular specialists. Susan Keast was on the Board of Directors for the GBS|CIDP Foundation International for many years representing Canadian interests.
The inception of the Foundation enabled Canada to offer programs that would support, educate, and advocate for Canadian patients and families which continues to strengthen and evolve with each year. Also created was a research fund, only to be granted to Canadian research, such as the Canadian involvement in the International GBS Outcome Study.
Today the Foundation has a truly National Medical Advisory Board and dedicated Liaisons from coast to coast.
We are a patient first Foundation. Full stop. We strive each and every day so that no patient or caregiver afflicted with devastating neuromuscular conditions goes through Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, Multifocal Motor Neuropathy, and variants alone.
