6th Annual D.C. Lupus Walk Reflects Rise in Local Patients

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A purple parade of more than 3,000 walkers will march for the rising ranks of lupus patients in D.C., Maryland and Virginia — now more than 80,000 strong and served by the Lupus Foundation of America-D.C./Maryland/Virginia Chapter. With walkers now quintupling since the first event, the 6th Annual DC Walk for Lupus Now! on Sat., April 21 will kick off at 9:00 a.m. with an address by Greta Kreuz, the WJLA-TV veteran reporter and Maryland bureau chief. Location: 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., between 13th and 12th Sts. Fee: None. Details/Registration: http://www.dclupuswalk.org.

Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease with no known cure that can damage any part of the body including the skin, joints, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys and the brain.

"We walk for those who can't," said Penny Fletcher, president and CEO, LFA-DC/MD/VA. "Walk donations are critical to help fund our free services to help local lupus patients live with this devastating disease, including our 17th Annual Washington Lupus Summit on May 5th," she said.

Walkers Candace Clark, Upper Marlboro, Md. and Janice Fitzgibbon, McLean, Va. are among the first patients in the area to take BENLYSTA®, the breakthrough lupus drug by Human Genome Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline that was approved last year.

Walk proceeds will help fund the chapter's free patient services, programs and events including phone support, a model Patient Navigation Program, an emergency assistance fund, local support groups, workshops, teleconferences, educational programs, three annual lupus summits with leading specialists, workshops on Living with Lupus and more.

Walk sponsors include ABC7, Afro-American Newspapers, Arthritis & Pain Associates of P.G. County, Assurant Health, Corner Bakery, D.C. Water is Life, Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman, Human Genome Sciences, MedImmune, MorganStanley Smith Barney/The Corey Group, SELEX Galileo, Target, Telemundo WZDC-CD, Unisys, Washington Examiner, The Washington Informer, WTOP 103.5 FM. 

About LFA-DC/MD/VA

Founded in 1974, the Lupus Foundation of America, DC/MD/VA Chapter, Inc. provides free, current information, education programs and outreach services to improve the quality of lives for people with lupus while also supporting research. Toll-free number in D.C., Md., Va. and W.Va.: 1-888-787-5380 or 202-787-5380. Website: http://www.lupusdmv.org.

SOURCE Lupus Foundation of America-DC/MD/VA Chapter