Despite a decrease in registration, Mandy Hancock said she hopes to raise $22,000 for Gainesville’s Epilepsy Foundation of Florida on Sunday.
Hancock said the ninth annual Walk the Talk for Epilepsy will charge a registration fee for the first time. Registration was up to $25 until Thursday and will increase to $35 at the event.
Along with helping planners stay more organized, the fee will allow epileptics to register for free, she said.
In 2015, JT, grandson of Foundation board member Rick Rundle, died from “sudden unexpected death in epilepsy” at the age of 10. The walk will honor his memory, according to a press release.
Registration opens at 8 a.m. and the walk begins at 9 a.m. on UF’s Flavet Field, according to the release.
“With the walk, it gives us the opportunity to not just talk, but to put our bodies and our money behind that talk,” Hancock said.
About 250 participants collectively raised $19,000 last year, she said.
This year, Hancock said she hopes at least 150 people will attend the event, which will include free food, live music and activities.
Julianne Raymond, 23, raised $1,180 for the event.
Raymond said she had not heard about epilepsy until she was diagnosed at 16, and her favorite part of the walk is raising awareness.
“It is something that people do not like to talk about,” she said. “We’re never going to make anything better for epileptics unless we talk about it.”
EPILEPSY AND EVENT
INFORMATION
Event will include free raffle and T-shirt with registration
More than 1 in 1,000 epileptics die annually of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy
One in 26 people are diagnosed with epilepsy
