Palatine Township Partners with High School Students Making a Difference

Pictured: Palatine Township Supervisor Sharon Langlotz-Johnson (far left) is pictured with Anjali Devabhaktuni, Pragya Kansal, Samruddhi Ayachit, and Shreya Ghosh - founders of the Fremd Community Awareness Team, along with Rolling Meadows Mayor Len Prejna and his wife Pat Waldron Prejna (front center) who has MS.

Palatine Township is proud to be partnering with four area high school students who are working to make a difference by raising awareness for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

The group, including Fremd High School juniors Anjali Devabhaktuni, Pragya Kansal, Samruddhi Ayachit, and Shreya Ghosh, identify themselves as the Fremd Community Awareness Team. The young women have proclaimed June 11-17, 2017 Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week, and held an educational seminar on MS earlier this month.

They are also hosting an MS Walk-a-Thon to raise funds for the National MS Society, on June 17.

“The Township was approached by this group and we were immediately impressed at how they have taken a cause and developed events around it to support and highlight this cause,” said Palatine Township Supervisor Sharon Langlotz-Johnson. “Encouraging young people to give back is something we believe is very important.”

All proceeds from the Walk-a-Thon will be donated to the National MS Society to fund research, support programs and provide financial aid to those living with MS. “The walk will be great fun for both adults and kids; we will have games and prizes at the center of the track. There will also be a raffle to win other exciting items,” said Ghosh, the group’s spokesperson.

The group is the first of its kind under the club HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), and chose to focus on Multiple Sclerosis after learning that 2.5 million individuals worldwide suffer from the disease, and it was apparent to all of them it was underrepresented, Ghosh said.

"We wrote a list of possible topics, but after careful consideration we saw how the populace is undereducated on the subject of MS, and we wanted to change that because the first step to a cure is awareness," Ghosh added.

The MS Walk-a-Thon will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2017 at the Harper College track, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine. Check-in begins at 8:00 a.m. and the event will run from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Attendees are asked to park in Parking Lot 1.

Registration fees for this event until June 17 are $5 for a high school student, $10 per family/ one adult, and kids below 14 are free with a paid adult). On the day of the walk the cost is $10 for a high school student, and $15 per family/one adult, and kids below 14 are $5 dollars each.

For more information, visit the group’s web page on the National MS Society website. Individuals can also fill out a form to participate at this link https://goo.gl/SzMp14. If you have questions, call 224-836-1105 or email msraisingawareness@gmail.com.

About Palatine Township:

Palatine Township provides numerous services and events for its 113,000 residents, and supports a number of social service agencies located within its boundaries. The Township is one of the most heavily populated in Illinois, with a goal to enhance and improve the quality of life for all of its residents.

Bordered by Lake Cook Road, Huntington Road, Central Road and Wilke Road, residents living in all or part of the following communities are part of the Township: Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Inverness, Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Barrington, South Barrington and Schaumburg. Visit www.PalatineTownship.com or call 847-358-6700.