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Get a haircut, help fight MS
By Bill Fonda/ bfonda@cnc.com
Friday, November 11, 2005
ORLEANS - If anyone is interested in finding a cure for multiple sclerosis, it is Peg Rochette, since her husband was diagnosed with the disease three years ago.
"I've been wanting to do something," said Rochette, who owns The Hair and I Salon on Route 6A in Orleans.
On Friday, Nov. 18, she will, donating half the salon's proceeds from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, a Boston-based nonprofit organization.
"We're doing everything, color, cuts," Rochette said.
Rochette's daughter Danielle will be working the desk all day during the fund-raiser. Danielle's boyfriend works for John Hancock in Boston, which has designated the Accelerated Cure Project as its nonprofit partner.
Along with donating half the proceeds, Rochette will also be taking contributions.
"We're going to raffle some products, maybe a gift basket or two," she said. "I hope (to raise) $500 or more."
To make an appointment, call 508-255-6606.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disorder of the central nervous system affecting more than 400,000 people in the United States and 2 million worldwide. The most serious symptoms can include inability to walk, impaired vision or blindness, bladder and bowel problems and extreme fatigue. There is no known cure.
The Accelerated Cure Project began in 2001 as the Boston Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis. Development director Melissa O'Shea said its goal is to cure MS by determining what causes it.
"It's really a critical unanswered piece of the puzzle," she said.
The project includes two main programs. The first is called Cure Map, an in-depth analysis of research that has been done and what research is still needed.
"By doing that, we think we can better direct research into more productive areas," she said.
The second piece is putting together a repository of blood and data samples from people who have MS and close relatives who do not. Samples will be available to researchers, but under the condition that they report their findings back to the database.
Since O'Shea said the standard belief is that MS is genetic and triggered by an environmental agent, the point of the database is to bring together information from different fields.
"Right now, researchers study in a very [narrow] fashion," she said. "Geneticists study genetics. Virologists study viruses."
So far, the project is working with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester on the repository and is looking to expand it nationally.
"Our initial goal is to collect samples from 100 subjects, and we're well on our way," she said.
This year's fund-raising goal is $775,000.
"Next year, we want to raise $2.5 million for an 18-month rollout of the repository nationally," O'Shea said.
For information or to make a donation to the Accelerated Cure Project, call 781-487-0008 or visit www.acceleratedcure.org. | | |
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