More than 400 people came together in Rundle Park on Sunday morning with the common goal of finding better treatment and a cure for Crohn’s disease and colitis.
Now in its 22nd year in Edmonton, the Gutsy Walk raises money for Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, with funds going towards research.
READ MORE: Crohn’s disease sufferer pens brutally honest account of living with the condition
“There’s some big research going on at the University of Calgary, that gets a good chunk of the money,” said Jen Grabski, chair of the Gutsy Walk in Edmonton.
“The biggest chunk is the PACE program, where we’re getting together with five standards of excellence across the country to come together and spend four years sharing information, going back and forth, so we can get the best care possible, even for remote locations.”
READ MORE: Rates of Crohn’s disease, colitis rising among Canadian children under 5
The Promoting Access and Care through Centres of Excellence (PACE) network represents the largest Canadian collaboration for adults living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. It brings together leading Canadian researchers to combine areas of expertise.
Canada has among the highest incidence rates of Crohn’s and colitis in the world, with one in five Canadians living with one of the inflammatory bowel diseases. Crohn’s and colitis are diseases that inflame the lining of the gastrointestinal tract and disrupt the body’s ability to digest food, absorb nutrition and eliminate waste in a healthy manner.
- What is a halal mortgage? How interest-free home financing works in Canada
- Capital gains changes are ‘really fair,’ Freeland says, as doctors cry foul
- Ontario doctors offer solutions to help address shortage of family physicians
- Budget 2024 failed to spark ‘political reboot’ for Liberals, polling suggests
READ MORE: More Canadians living with inflammatory bowel disease than anywhere else in world: study
Here in Edmonton, more than 8,000 people live with Crohn’s or colitis, Grabski said.
“This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to get awareness out there. You get a bunch of people all in one room and you have a lot of fun and it’s not a chore and it’s just a really good style of fundraising and awareness raising.”
READ MORE: New study to see if diet can help people with Crohn’s and colitis
This year, the Edmonton Gutsy Walk raised $106,000, which exceeded the goal of $103,000.
Similar events were held in cities across Canada on Sunday. Participants take part in a three-, five- or eight-kilometre walk or run.
Comments