The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will hold the Eric Kast Memorial Great Strides fundraising walk on Saturday, April 28, at the River Park’s Hubert Fry Center. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the walk will begin at 10 a.m.
Great Strides is an annual event that raises money to fund critical cystic fibrosis (CF) research. In 2006, nearly 300 walkers and corporate and community sponsors in Chattanooga raised $53,000, joining walks across the country to raise $28 million to fight CF. The local goal this year is $60,000, so the CF Foundation is seeking walkers to form teams and raise money to help the tens of thousands of Americans living with the disease.
The 2007 walk is named in memory of Eric Kast, a former Chattanooga area resident who was one of the 30,000 children and adults in the U.S. afflicted with the disease. He died earlier this year at the age of 38 from one of the chronic lung infections caused by CF. Eric dedicated his life to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis, including testifying before the U.S. Senate, raising money for research, and participating in nearly a dozen CF Foundation clinical trials at Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health.
Eric knew he would never receive any direct benefit from the studies, but participated in research trials to help others. One of these trials was gene therapy, one possible side effect of which was death. He risked this to help his niece Kelsey, who also has CF, as well as others with the disease.
Eric is survived by wife Sherry Kast. “Eric worked extremely hard to help find a cure for cystic fibrosis. Because of his commitment to the CF Foundation and research, I have to continue raising money for cystic fibrosis research. There is still hope for a cure but that hope will only be realized if the funds are available for research. Great Strides is a wonderful avenue to raise money for much needed research,” she says.
To help raise money for CF research, walkers can register for Chattanooga’s Great Strides online at www.cff.org/great_strides. Online registrants can use interactive tools to invite walkers to join their teams, request online donations and check their fundraising status. Walkers are encouraged to attend the event even if they cannot register online in order to donate, show support for the cause, and buy tickets for great raffle prizes.
CF is a genetic disease that afflicts the respiratory and digestive systems. A defective gene causes the body to produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and pancreas, leading to life-threatening lung infections and an inability to break down and absorb food into the body. Currently, there is no cure.
The mission of the CF Foundation is to develop the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis and to improve the quality of life for those with the disease. It funds medical research and care programs which are improving the length and quality of life for people with cystic fibrosis.