Every Step Counts at the 21st Parkinson's Unity Walk on April 25th at Central Park in New York City

KINGSTON, N.J., March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Parkinson Alliance announced today that the 21st Parkinson's Unity Walk will take place on Saturday, April 25, 2015, in a 1.4 mile Walk around New York City's Central Park. With over 11,000 participants last year, The Parkinson's Unity Walk is the largest grassroots fundraiser for Parkinson's disease research in the country. The Walk unites thousands of participants from across the country and supporters from around the world, in one common goal; to raise awareness and funds to support research for better treatments of Parkinson's disease. The ultimate goal is to educate our community and garner enough financial support to one day find a cure.

"Since the first Walk in 1994, the Unity Walk has gone from raising $16,000 in research funds, to over $1,600,000 in 2014," said Martin Tuchman, Chairman of The Parkinson Alliance, the umbrella organization for the Parkinson's Unity Walk. "This level of consistent growth is a reflection of how successful each walk has been for the past two decades, as well the growing support from the community."

"The Unity Walk is also a day of community and education as it provides the opportunity for thousands of participants to visit informational booths of our event sponsors and the companies and organizations who are working for the Parkinson's community; including information about available therapies, participating in clinical trials, and advocacy," said Carol Walton, Chief Executive Officer of The Parkinson Alliance.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, degenerative, neurological disorder that affects over 1 million people in the U.S. Approximately 60,000 new cases of Parkinson's are diagnosed each year, and the exact cause remains unknown. The unfortunate nature of Parkinson's disease is that families of those diagnosed are also greatly affected; as their loved ones deteriorate, the proper care and therapy can become overwhelming. The Parkinson's Unity Walk provides anyone affected by this disease the chance to connect with others including stopping by the Ask the Healthcare Experts booth to speak with healthcare professionals who can offer general information on disease management, including movement disorder specialists, neurosurgeons, physical therapists,  occupational therapists and DBS programmers.

Fortunately, the generous support from our sponsors allows 100% of donations to go to research funded by seven major U.S. Parkinson's disease foundations. Our sponsors include AbbVie, Lundbeck, Teva CNS, UCB, US WorldMeds, Boston Scientific, LSVT Global, and SpeechVive.

For more information regarding registration or donations for this year's Parkinson's Unity Walk, please visit www.unitywalk.org or call 866-789-9255. And please remember, you don't need to be in New York to show support. By visiting the above link or calling, any contribution to the Walk will make great strides toward finding a cure.

About The Parkinson Alliance
The Parkinson Alliance is a national non-profit organization, dedicated to raising funds to help finance the most promising research to find the cause and cure for Parkinson's disease; and is the umbrella organization for the Parkinson's Unity Walk. Since its inception in 1994, one hundred percent of donations to the Parkinson's Unity Walk have gone to research.

Contacts
Helaine Isaacs
Event Director
Parkinson's Unity Walk
866-789-9255
[email protected]

Lauren Menache
Berk Comm & Marketing Group
212-889-0440 ext. 222
[email protected]

SOURCE The Parkinson Alliance

Related Links

http://www.unitywalk.org