LEMONADE STANDS AIM TO SQUEEZE OUT MULTIPLE SCHLEROSIS MAY 30

Lemon Grove resident Kim German, 30, who has multiple sclerosis, is hosting a lemonade stand to raise money for multiple sclerosis from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, at the Lemon Grove VFW Hall, 6873 Federal Blvd., in Lemon Grove. The public is invited to drop by Kim’s lemonade stand, which will be one of more than 100 lemonade stands located in different neighborhoods throughout San Diego County and open at various times that are participating on May 30 in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s “The Stand Against MS” fund-raiser.

German, who grew up in La Mesa and graduated from Helix Charter High School (class of 1996), was diagnosed last summer with MS, a chronic, unpredictable and disabling neurological disease of the central nervous system with no known cause, cure or prevention. She works as a sales manager at Stone Yard, Inc., a manufacturer of decorative stone items for landscapes. According to Richard Israel, president of the National MS Society’s San Diego-based Pacific South Coast chapter, a number of neighborhoods, schools, churches and service clubs and organizations are participating with lemonade stands in this first-time fund-raiser. A partial list of times and locations, along with information on how to start your own lemonade stand, can be viewed at www.StandAgainstMS.com. “We are encouraging people to take a stand against MS with a lemonade stand,” Israel said. “This is an outstanding opportunity for entire families to support a worthwhile cause that’s close to home. Our goal is to help raise awareness and funds toward a world free of multiple sclerosis. We are hoping that each stand can raise $300, and prizes will be available for top fund-raisers.” MS is one of the most common neurological diseases affecting young- to middle-aged adults. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS, which affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.5 million people worldwide, interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Symptoms can vary greatly from person to person and from time to time in the same person, and can range from numbness in the limbs and extreme fatigue to loss of balance and muscle coordination or paralysis. For more information about hosting a lemonade stand, as well as sponsorship information, contact Heather Cavazos at (760) 448-8446, or via e-mail at standMS@mspacific.org.