Lupus 5K fundraiser postponed
Organizers for the 25th annual Norma Lambert Memorial Lupus Springers 5K race and walk announced late last week that this year’s fundraising event has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A news release from the LUPUS Foundation of Arkansas said that the annual fundraising Race and Walk to End Lupus, which was scheduled for May 16, has been postponed.
Jamesetta Smith, president of the organization, said that the foundation is exploring the idea of a virtual 5K this year.
“Some people have asked us about it, and I don’t know when this is going to stop,” she said. “We have a jazz concert coming up in August, and really, that would be probably too hot to run. I had thought about June 13 or the 20th. … We do have sponsors. I don’t want to cancel it, so I need to do something. That’s where I am now. Someone is working to see if we can do it virtually, and I’m waiting on her.”
Smith said that the event has around 100 participants each year, and the 5K and the jazz concert are the LUPUS Foundation’s biggest fundraising events.
With the 5K being postponed indefinitely at this time, Smith said that she is concerned about the funding for the charitable organization at this time.
“This is a serious disease, and that is the only way we get money is through donations and contributions,” she said. “We don’t get out there and work to make the money. We cannot survive [without donations]. I am a volunteer, so I don’t get paid, but I have to have a part-time employee. … We’re still paying rent. I’m not letting the office go. I don’t have the place to put anything.”
Smith said that earlier this year, the LUPUS Foundation of Arkansas got an anonymous $2,400 donation that did help.
“We do have people that make donations with [electronic] deposit,” she said. “That helps us in the fundraising because we never know what we’re going to get and we never know who it’s coming from or anything, but we do get funds from people that we don’t know.”
Smith said that lupus is a debilitating disease that is often overlooked by doctors because while sufferers do not always show symptoms, it is an extraordinarily painful autoimmune disease.
“People don’t understand what lupus patients have to go through, and that that includes doctors and healthcare professionals because we don’t look like we’re sick,” she said. “But I live with pain on a daily basis, and I just had to learn to deal with it and do what I can.”
For information on how to donate to the LUPUS Foundation of Arkansas, visit http:// lupus-arkansas.com or call 501-525-9380.