16th Annual Mark Linder Walk for the Mind

Description

The 16th annual Mark Linder Walk for the Mind will take place on Saturday, September 29 at the Peoria RiverPlex. Registration, raffle & kids face painting will run from 7:30 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. Introductions and the Walk ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. followed by survivors leading the one mile walk down Constitution Trail. The registration fee is $20 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under. Survivors are FREE. Game stations will line the trail giving kids a chance to win small prizes. After being diagnosed with a brain tumor, Peoria native Mark Linder felt alone. He decided to create a place where brain tumor survivors and those still fighting the fight could support one another and contribute towards brain tumor research. In 2003, he founded Walk for the Mind. Sadly, Linder lost his battle in 2005 at the age of 31 but not before he got to see his vision making a difference. Re-named after his death, the Mark Linder Walk for the Mind now attracts over 800 participants from all over Central Illinois. For the seventh year, all net proceeds will be donated to the “Brain Tumor Research Programs” at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. “We are thankful for this wonderful partnership with the Mark Linder Walk for the Mind. Funds raised will help support Dr. Tsung’s vital research to understand the mechanisms that make cancers grow and invade,” said Dr. Sara Rusch, Regional Dean at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. “This is research that we hope will lead to breakthroughs originating here in the laboratory at the College of Medicine and then someday translate to brain cancer treatment at the Illinois Neurological Institute here in Peoria”, said Dr. Rusch. A non-profit organization, Mark Linder Walk for the Mind has donated over $630,000 towards brain tumor research that stays in Central Illinois. For more information, find us at www.marklinderwalkforthemind.org and on Facebook.