The PSU Parkinson’s Foundation recently held its first fundraising effort to benefit Parkinson’s disease research at Penn State Hershey. Students and community members joined forces and promoted National Parkinson’s Awareness Month, educated attendees about the disease and also raised more than $1,200 at their Field Day for research.
The Field Day event consisted of outdoor activities and games like a basketball free throw contest, soccer shoot out and football toss. Members of the group sold silver wristbands with the slogan "It may shake me but it can't break me," in reference to the tremors that Parkinson's patients suffer from.
Several students involved in the PSU Parkinson’s Foundation have experienced the effects that the disease has through a family member’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and wanted to do something proactive.
Foundation president and founder Matthew Nemeth was inspired to support research and awareness efforts in memory of his grandmother who had battled Parkinson’s disease for 18 years before she passed away in December.
Nemeth, a senior at Penn State, is proud to have started the foundation and see it flourish before his graduation this May. In the fall, a new class of leadership will take charge of the PSU Parkinson’s Foundation and continue the tradition of supporting research and awareness of the disease.