On Saturday, Oct. 11, former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Eddie Kennison is rolling out the “A –Team” for the 2014 Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR) Greater Kansas City Walk with Us to Cure Lupus.
Kennison will be joined by his wife, Shimika, who has lupus, along with community co-chairs MetLife’s Erik Gaucher, The Roasterie’s Danny O’Neill, Gail’s Harley-Davidson’s Gail Worth and Jasper’s Restaurant’s Chef Jasper Mirable. The family-friendly walk will take place at the T-Bones Stadium at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, 1800 Village West Parkway, Kansas City, Kan.
The 5K Walk raises funds to find a cure for lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that strikes 1.5 million Americans – including Shimika Kennison. The entire community is encouraged to come walk; registration begins at 9 a.m. with the walk starting at 10 a.m.; rain or shine. In addition to the walk, the lupus event will include a number of family-friendly activities.
The Oct. 11 walk is sponsored by the ALR, a nonprofit national organization. founded by New York Jets Chairman, Robert “Woody” Johnson whose daughter has lupus. Woody and Eddie met at Arrowhead Stadium several years ago and have teamed up ever since to help find a cure for lupus. The co-chairs and ALR are working hard with the lupus families this year to raise $100,000. Anyone can come to the walk and there is no registration fee.
To register for the Greater Kansas City Walk with Us to Cure Lupus or make a donation, visit www.lupuswalkkc.org. One hundred percent of the proceeds raised by the ALR Walk go directly to research because the ALR board of directors funds all administrative and fundraising costs.
Kennison said teaming up with ALR is a perfect game plan for raising funds for treatments and a cure for lupus.
“Kansas City is such a supportive community. Now’s the time for you to join us in this heavy weight fight against lupus,” Kennison said. “And like the Chiefs, we want to score and win – and like the Chiefs, we will win!”
Kennison, who retired from the Kansas City Chiefs in 2010 after 13 years in the NFL, is one of the Chiefs’ most philanthropic players. Kennison started his own foundation, Kennison’s QuickStart Foundation, in 2003 after Shimika was diagnosed with Lupus and entered into a formal partnership with the ALR and continues to chair the ALR’s Greater Kansas City , Walk with Us to Cure Lupus.
– Story from Ruth Baum Bigus and Alliance for Lupus Research