All across Canada, A&W restaurants are celebrating the 10th annual Burgers to Beat MS Day on August 16.
For every teen burger that is purchased nation-wide, $2 is donated to the MS Society of Canada.
The burger chain has raised more than $11 million dollars in the past nine years and has a goal of $2 million for 2018.
Stephanie Mosher is the corporate relations manager of MS Society of Canada. She says Canada has the highest rate of MS in the world.
“MS in an auto-immune disease that affects the central nervous system,” Mosher explained. “It’s different symptoms for everybody, but It can be tingling and numbness, fatigue, pain, in some case loss of mobility.”
Mosher says the cause of MS is still unknown, as is the reason behind Canada’s soaring MS statistics.
There is hope for those suffering with the disease. Mosher says we have made significant leaps when it comes to treatments.
“If you were diagnosed with MS 20 years ago, there wouldn’t have been treatments available for you,” Mosher said. “Now there’s 14 disease modifying therapies.”
The chief financial officer of A&W Canada, Don Leslie, says the restaurant chain is focused on making a difference in communities across the country.
“There’s a very high prevalence of MS in Canada versus other countries. It’s also more prevalent in women: three times more likely than for men,” Leslie said. “ So it’s been a great cause, a great partnership and it’s one that we really support and we hope people will come out and support it today.”
For those who don’t want to purchase teen burgers but would like to get involved, online donations are accepted on the A&W website as well as in-person at local restaurants.