By Fred Guarino

The Lowndes Signal

 

K erstin Sanders, an 11-year-old fourth grader at Jackson-Steele Elementary in White Hall, is doing her part to help raise funds for the Easter Seals program to help children like her and adults with disabilities.

On Saturday, Sept. 14, she and her mother, Mattisa Moorer, will participate in the Sixth Annual Walk With Me fundraiser at the Miracle League Field in Montgomery.

Kerstin has cerebral palsy, a disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture that is caused by injury or abnormal development in the immature brain, most often before birth, according to Mayo Clinic.com.

Moorer said her daughter was diagnosed with the disorder at 6 months of age.

She said the Walk With Me fundraiser raises money for families of children and adults with disabilities to help pay for equipment, even with medical needs such as therapies and things of that nature.

Moorer said participant families can form teams. To learn about Kerstin’s team visit www.walkwithme.org/mongomery and click on “Faithful Friends.”

“She’s gotten several devices like communications devices through Easter Seals and they helped pay for it,” Moorer said of the benefits Easter Seals provides for her daughter.

Kerstin also has scoliosis of the spine. Moorer said she just found out the Tuesday before the close of the Junior Ranger Camp last Saturday that she would need surgery to correct her spine.

She said Kerstin would be at Children’s Hospital in October or November. She said Kerstin just had a surgery on her feet in February and had to have a feeding tube in March.

This year will mark Kerstin’s fifth Walk With Me event.

According to Kerstin’s Walk With Me flier, 100 percent of the funds raised from this event stay local to help children like Kerstin.

It states that Kerstin “is in an inclusive classroom setting and enjoys going to school, interacting with her classmates.” She loves reading, music and trips to the store, as well as traveling and being included in activities with her peers and friends.

Kerstin was a participant in the recent National Historic Trail Junior Park Ranger Camp held at the Lowndes Interpretive Center in White Hall.

Also according to Kerstin’s flier, Easter Seals has assisted her with the purchase of augmentative and alternative communication devices. And she has benefited from the Dogs On Call therapy program, with their fun, comforting visits to many of her therapy        appointments.

Moorer said Kerstin now has a Dynavox to help her communicated. Her flier states that she is making great strides at using it and that she even has a page specifically for therapy with the dogs with which she can communicate whether she wants to brush the dog or throw the ball.

Moorer said Kerstin would not have made such tremendous progress without the help of Easter Seals.

The Walk With Me event on Sept. 14 will begin with registration at 8 a.m., and the fun walk is set to begin at 9:15 a.m.

For more information contact Alicia Schneider at 334-378-3255. Also, for more information on the 6th Annual Walk With Me, please visit

www.walkwithme.org/montgomery.