Community walks to end Lyme disease
Emily Lougee
Staff Writer
The student senate worked with engineering sciences student Brandon McDonough to host the first “It’s Time to End Lyme” walk last Saturday.
Ganiat Giwa, a biological sciences student and member of the student senate, said McDonough came to the student senate with the idea for this walk during the fall 2018 semester. The student senate thought it was a great idea and wanted to make it happen, and so McDonough began planning the event the beginning of this semester.
On Saturday, the walk ended up starting later than expected, due to a campus-wide power outage that delayed the start of the event. Once the outage was fixed, McDonough opened the event by talking about why he wanted this walk to happen.
Last summer, McDonough was diagnosed with Lyme disease, and, as a result of this disease, he got very sick, causing him to fall behind in the summer classes he was taking. His diagnosis prompted him to bring attention to this disease. This year for ticks is supposed to be one of the worst years yet, McDonough said.
The walk started at the Outdoor Athletic Complex, went around campus and ended where it started: at the athletic complex. After the walk, everyone was split into four teams for a game of tug-of-war. There was also a small game of Twister, and a few people played Frisbee beside the complex.
Throughout the event, a person accompanied the walk, dressed as a giant tick named Luna, to help spread awareness.
Much went into planning this even, and, although it wasn’t as large a turnout as they hoped for, Giwa is proud of those who showed up to help show their support, she said.
A raffle was held after the walk. The prize was a green Lyme disease ribbon car magnet and a T-shirt from the Lyme Disease Association.
“It’s nice to see to show up and support this cause,” McDonough said after the walk.
McDonough continued, “I’d like to see people in the future continue this tradition and make it bigger and better. It was nice to have the Lyme Disease Association and the Lyme Action Network be involved in the walk.”
The event was free for Hudson Valley students and open to the public at a cost of $5. All the proceeds from the walk went to help victims of Lyme disease and to help fund research.