By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A special evening Tuesday will raise money for the Freudenthal Center and its fight against Parkinson’s Disease.
Freudenthal Center Executive Director, Stephanie Stewart, says the Unite & Fight Gala at Stoney Creek Inn is one of two big fundraisers for the center.
“The whole idea is that we want to unite with these folks that have Parkinson’s and fight the disease,” Stewart says during her visit to KFEQmmunity. “And that’s been our goal since we started the program in December of 2018 was to help people with Parkinson’s fight the disease through exercise and through getting together and helping one another.”
Boxing has become a favorite exercise as the Freudenthal Center in East Hills Mall.
“Just something about taking your aggression out on that big, black bag that really does get people moving, absolutely. So, boxing is very, very popular,” Stewart says. “We have another program called BAM which is Big Amplitude Movement. A lot of folks with Parkinson’s, they’re movements get very small. And so, that class in particular is about getting their movements bigger.”
Stewart says the exercise isn’t as important as the attitude. She says Freudenthal works to give participants exercises they will stick with, even those who haven’t made exercise a part of their normal day-to-day life.
“So, if you’re just starting out and you really kind of need to get into it and you haven’t done a whole lot of exercise, you can kind of let up just a little bit and not push it as hard,” Stewart says. “But once you get going and once you’ve been to the classes for several months, we expect you to kind of push it and make it a little harder on yourself and don’t take as many breaks as you maybe took when you first started out, because that’s just going to make your life better.”
A fairly new program will be featured at the gala. It is called the Loud Crowd, an effort to fight a disturbing effect of Parkinson’s in which those fighting the disease get increasingly quieter.
The Freudenthal Center in the East Hills Mall provides its programs for free. To be able to continue that practice, the center needs to raise money. The United & Fight Gala helps. Individual tickets sell for $50 a person. Several area businesses provide sponsorships. Doors open at 5pm on Tuesday at Stoney Creek Inn with an Italian buffet by Luna’s Catering served at 5:15pm. The program starts at 6pm.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ