Sojourner’s Truth Staff
Rachelle Roy was diagnosed with discoid lupus in 2005 and was quietly living with the discomfort and the drop in self esteem the condition caused for about 15 years before deciding that it was time to do something about the public’s indifference to the disease.
“I’ve been wanting to do a walk for many, many years,” says Roy. “I had been getting perturbed about the lack of attention lupus has been getting, so it made me reach out.”
So last year, she did something about it in a big way. She organized the first Living With Lupus Walk in Ottawa Park and managed to bring together dozens for that inaugural gathering.
This year the walk will be held the weekend of May 21-22 and will be, in all ways, bigger and more varied than the 2021 version.
This year, the whole weekend will be devoted to Roy’s effort to increase lupus awareness in the Toledo area.
On Saturday at noon, Roy is partnering with the Corvette Club and joining their parade – starting at Collingwood and moving along all the way to Club Evolution on Reynolds.
On Saturday evening, there will be a bowling fundraiser at the New Glass Bowl on Telegraph, starting at 8 pm.
The Walk will be held at Ottawa Park on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
Especially bigger, Roy anticipates, will be the donation the weekend raises for the Lupus Foundation of America, Greater Ohio Chapter – bigger than the $2,000 she was able to donate last year to the Foundation.
“People got interested in helping, which is what I wanted to do – they weren’t doing that prior to the walk. We got people motivated to doing that.”