MS Walk set for Sunday in Boca

Jodi Rothman has been raising money to help treat and cure multiple sclerosis since her daughter Alie was diagnosed at 14.

Now Alie's 22 and in law school at the University of Miami. She's about to launch her nonprofit for children with MS who can't afford treatment, on a national level. And this year, the family team in her name hopes to raise $90,000 to $100,000 in Walk MS in Boca on Sunday, and another $50,000 or so at two other walks in the state, said Jodi Rothman, of western Delray Beach, who has been the walk's chairwoman for three years.

Check-in opens at 7:30 a.m. and the UAIC Boca Raton Walk MS presented by Genzyme starts at 9 a.m. at the Boca Corporate Center & Campus, 500 T-Rex Ave. The chapter expects a turnout of at least 600 people and raised nearly $300,000 last year.

Supporters can register or volunteer at mswalksouthflorida.org or call 800-344-4867. A $50 fundraising goal for adults and $25 for students 13 to 17 is required; walk participants who raise at least $100 will receive a T-shirt and additional prize levels.

"South Florida residents demonstrate support for those living with multiple sclerosis by raising more than $850,000 for research, programs and services offered by the chapter," chapter president Karen Dresbach said in a statement.

MS is "an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body," according to the National MS Society. Although no two patients have the same symptoms, the society lists fatigue, numbness and tingling, vision and bladder problems and walking [gait] difficulties among them.

Alie hasn't let MS stop her one bit. She had doctors wherever she went from Florida to Boston to Washington, and she studied abroad and went to Israel a few summers. "This is my life," she told her mother.

The Rothman family got involved in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society South Florida Chapter in 2006, after Alie was diagnosed, and now their team is up to 100 supporters. "Some people even fly in," her mother said.

"It's a great family walk and we have tons of activities. It's a happy walk even though it's not a happy disease," Rothman said. "There are signs along way with trivia questions. Everyone always has an amazing time."

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MS Walk set for Sunday in Boca