Corvette Club
By Dawn Scotland
The Truth Reporter
“This is a Jesus moment,” said Rachelle Roy, founder of the Living with Lupus Walk in Toledo.
On Saturday morning, May 21 Roy was filled with emotion as hundreds of allies drove in support of Lupus Awareness. The parade, in partnership with the Corvette Club, spanned from Dorr and Collingwood to Club Evolution on Reynolds Rd.
The event, she says, exceeded the amount of her inaugural Living with Lupus Walk last year that she created in just 16 days.
Corvette riders from Toledo, Columbus, Detroit and Pennsylvania came out to support the event. Many wearing special purple “We Ride for Lupus Awareness” shirts.
“When I was envisioning [the event]… I was asking [the Corvette Club] to just come out and show a couple of cars (at Ottawa Park).” God exceeded her vision and plans.
“[God] gave a parking lot much bigger. He gave me Dorr and Collingwood and he [brought out] a whole bunch of corvettes and slingshots.” Over 200 people participated in the event Saturday.
This parade is a part The Corvette Club’s annual day party celebration. The club plans to do more community service and outreach in the future. They have been in operation in Toledo since the 1970s.
Roy hopes that the event will bring more awareness to Lupus, a condition that is often known as a “mystery disease.”
“What I wanted to do more than anything was raise the awareness about Lupus… no one was talking about Lupus…I didn’t see the bridges turn purple [during Lupus Awareness Day]”, said Roy.
Roy was diagnosed with Lupus in 2005. “We look healthy… but we don’t look like the battle that’s being going on inside our bodies… and finally somebody is talking about it.”
“Because when I first was diagnosed with lupus I didn’t know anything about it anything at all… I didn’t know any of this was going on because none of this was going on. “
This was the kickoff event for the Lupus Weekend. Saturday night Roy hosted a bowling party. The second annual Living with Lupus Walk took place Sunday, May 22 at Ottawa Park.
