Hundreds Walk For Kidney Disease Awareness

It was a bit dreary outside Sunday morning in Belmar, but there were nothing but smiles and warm faces from all participants in the seventh annual Steppin’ Out 4 A Cure Walk, which took place on the Belmar Boardwalk at 10:30 a.m.

This walk benefited the IGA Nephropathy Foundation of America. According to the organization’s website, http://www.iganephropathy.org, “the IGA Nephropathy Foundation of America has as its primary objective: the eradication of chronic kidney disease while also addressing the many problems faced by the patients and their families.”

The site goes on to further say that IGA Nephropathy is a common and undetected kidney disease that occurs when IGA, a protein that helps fight infection, settles in the kidneys, and disrupts the ability of the kidneys to filter waste and excess water from blood.

The founder of this foundation is Wall Township resident Bonnie Schneider, who organized Sunday’s walk throughout Belmar. Schneider has a child who was diagnosed with IGA Nephropathy, and this peaked her interest in the disease.

She said she found out there was not much research on this disorder when she found out about her child having it several years ago, so she began a support group that started in her living room several years ago. This group turned into the foundation, and this foundation is now found in six different states throughout the country, going as far as Texas.

“It truly is amazing to see so many people believing in this mission,” she said.

This walk began with registration at 9:30 a.m. at Silver Lake. For $25, people registered to walk in the race, with all proceeds going toward the IGA Nephropathy Foundation of America.

Along with those walking during the event, there was also a great deal of people who came to donate blood. The donated blood was collected and will be compared to the blood of those who are affected by IGA Nephropathy. 

One of the individuals who donated blood for this event was Wall Township resident Tina Hubbard, who has a daughter who recently received a kidney transplant.

She said that this event hit close to home for her, adding she was happy to say that her daughter has reacted well to the kidney transplant she recently received.

Schneider said all money raised during the walk will go toward studies of IGA Nephropathy at the University of Alabama in Montgomery. 

“We are about $16,000 away from our goal,” she said, adding the continued study will allow for IGA Nephropathy to be written about in an upcoming New England Journal of Medicine. If the disease gets written about in this journal, she explained, further studies can be done to work on eradicating this terrible disorder.

For the walk, Schneider said for years, they held their event at the Sea Girt Army Camp, but moved the walk to the Belmar Boardwalk in recent years to get more publicity for the walk. This walk began at Silver Lake, went down to the arches near Lake Como, and returned back to Silver Lake.

The next event being held for the IGA Nephropathy Foundation will be a charity golf outing on June 9. For more information on this disorder, or to donate to help the foundation, please visit their site at http://www.iganephropathy.org.

Click for a full photo gallery from the event.