16-year-old Mt. Prospect resident Jen Sheridan raising funds, awareness to help end MS through Walk MS, May 3

Jen Sheridan of Mt. Prospect, Illinois, first participated in Walk MS in 2012, just a few months after her mom, Diane Sheridan, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. On Sunday, May 3, Jen Sheridan and her family will take part in Walk MS, the largest annual fundraiser of the National MS Society, Greater Illinois Chapter. She will be walking at the Northwest Suburbs site at Cabela’s in Hoffman Estates (5225 Prairie Stone Parkway). Registration opens at 7:30 a.m., and the walk begins at 9 a.m. The Northwest Suburbs walk — one of 11 Walk MS events statewide — brings people together to celebrate the progress and powerful connections made in the movement to end MS.

At just 16 years of age, Jen Sheridan, Walk MS team captain of Team Jen for Mom Sheridan, pledges to fundraise over $6,000 for critical MS research, programs and services this year.

“I fundraise by sending out emails and through Facebook,” said Sheridan. “This year, I started writing letters to my teachers.”

Sheridan is certainly making an impact in the movement to end MS. With each year, Sheridan’s Walk MS team continues to grow and so does her total fundraising dollars. After participating in Walk MS for only three years, Sheridan and her team have raised over $10,000.

“It’s an amazing feeling — I can’t wrap my head around how many people that has helped,” she said. “Just knowing that we are changing peoples’ lives is the most rewarding part of Walk MS.”

For Sheridan, fundraising is not only about finding a cure for MS, but also about raising awareness for MS and the National MS Society.

“When my mom was diagnosed, I had no idea what multiple sclerosis was. That shouldn’t happen,” she said. “People should know what MS is.”

Last year, more than 12,000 people participated in Walk MS throughout Illinois, raising over $2.7 million for critical MS research, programs and services.

To find out more about Walk MS 2015 or to register or donate online, contact Meghan Melone at 312.423.1138 or at meghan.melone@nmss.org, or visit walkMS.org.

Multiple Sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease that interrupts the flow of information in the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. The Greater Illinois Chapter mobilizes people and resources to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of more than 20,000 individuals in Illinois and 2.3 million worldwide affected by MS.

For more information, visit MSillinois.org.