Members of the Rho Sigma men’s social club as part of Team Arkadelphia was recognized as the top fund-raiser at the 2010 Little Rock Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walk which helped to raise awareness for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, according o the Arkansas Division for Multiple Sclerosis.
Team Arkadelphia contributed more than $26,000 to the fight against MS and Rho Sigma members joined with team captain and Rho Sigma alumnus Russell Strickland, a quadriplegic due to the effects of MS.
Strickland was appreciative for his club’s response and support in the MS event.
“I would like to thank the Rho Sigma men’s social club for making a difference at the walk,” he said. “I appreciate the energy and excitement that the Red Shirts add to Team Arkadelphia.”
Rho Sigma member and participant in the walk, Bryant Renfro, recognized the opportunity to raise money and awareness for MS as an honor.
“This event is so important to us because of Mr. Strickland,” Renfro said. “Since our founding in 1935, we Redshirts have always prided ourselves on brotherhood. By brotherhood I don’t simply mean sharing the same letters as the guy standing next to you. But a strong, deep connection with a group of people that is so powerful it is difficult to put into words. So for us to be able to help one of our own and so many other people affected by MS, it really was an honor.”
Renfro first met Strickland at the MS walk in 2007 and the impact that he had on the Rho Sigma member was profound.
“Mr. Strickland and his family are honestly some of the most wonderful people that I have had the privilege to be around,” Renfro said.
Kyle Barnard who first participated in the MS walk with Strickland as a freshman, was a inspired by the event.
“Being able to witness so many people grouping together and having such enthusiasm inspired me,” Barnard said. “Mr. Strickland, or Stick (a nickname), is easily one of the most remarkable people I have had the privilege of meeting. Just knowing what he has been, and still is going through makes me look at my life and ask ‘what have I done lately.’”
Even though MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, with symptoms that range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis, according to Renfro, Strickland “was still more upbeat” than the college students.
“Even though something as minor as being out in the sun causes Mr. Strickland pain, it didn’t seem to phase him one bit,” Renfro said. “He is one of the strongest people I have ever met.”
According to the Arkansas Division for Multiple Sclerosis, MS affects more than 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide. There is currently no prevention, cure, or known cause for multiple sclerosis.
By Holland Powell, Editor-In-Chief
