A walk in the park

By Jim Mynard
INNER Wheel will hold a Cord Blood Research fundraising walk at Wilson Botanic Park from 10am on Sunday, 18 March.
A warmup session will start at 10am before the option of two walks in the park.
There is a leisurely walk around the two bottom lakes for strollers and children or a challenging walk around the perimeter of the park where participants can view the Berwick surrounds and the magnificent park itself.
Food and refreshments will be available after the walks.
The day will raise money for the Inner Wheel Cord Blood appeal, a national project run by Inner Wheel Australia.
Research has shown that cord blood is rich in bloodforming adult stem cells and when transplanted into a patient, different types of blood cells can be produced after the patient’s own malfunctioning blood cells have been depleted or destroyed by chemotherapy or irradiation.
These cord blood stem cells can be used in transplants for children with leukaemia and other critical blood diseases.
Inner Wheel Cord Blood Project national coordinator Anne McGill said one advantage over a bone marrow transplant was that the cord blood was collected from the umbilical cord and placenta with no harm to mother or baby.
“Another very important point is that the stem cells from the umbilical cord have no ethical problems and are not the same as embryonic stem cells that have caused a great deal of argument and discussion,” Ms McGill said.
“Government funding is limited for research and the medical researchers rely on corporate sponsors or organisations such as Inner Wheel to help fund their work.
“Researchers are also looking into the possibility of the adult stem cells being used to repair damaged tissue in the heart, caused by heart attack, to help stroke victims, and also in the field of Alzheimer’s and muscular dystrophy.
“Juvenile diabetes is another field that researchers are successfully investigating,” she said.
Ms McGill said that by helping the researchers donors helped to give sick children a second chance at life.
“Inner Wheel has raised more than $889,000 and given 15 grants to researchers in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane, with another two grants being presented in the next few weeks,” she said.
“We are grateful for the sponsorship and support of business, including Bendigo Bank Berwick, Kaye Charles Real Estate, Hotel Fountain Gate, Addamo Packers, City of Casey, Computex, David Kervin (MAS) Fyna Foods Australia, Garrleigh Trophy Centre, piper Ian Arrell, Love Police, McDonald’s Fountain Gate, Nestles, R and C Asphalt, Richard Edwards Pharmacy, Rotary Club of Narre Warren, Rotary Club of Hallam Valley, Safeway Berwick, Sanitarium, and Wendy from Wham.
Edrington Ward councillor Mick Morland will start the walk.
Donation is $20 with no charge for children.
Further information is available on 9707 5286 or 5943 2387.