Julia Cohen, a 16-year-old Plainview resident and Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School junior, was recently presented with an Exceptional Volunteer certificate by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, after raising more than $1,750 for the charitable organization, in honor of her grandmother, former Plainview resident, Gloria Schwartzman, who suffers from the disease.
Her fundraising effort, Julia’s Charity Ride for MS, held at SoulCycle of Woodbury, was a 45-minute, high energy indoor cycling workout event, where community residents rode together in honor of those who can’t.
“We cannot thank Julia enough for putting this event together,” said Natale Raimo, development director, National MS Society, Long Island Chapter. “I hope her story will inspire others to get more involved in fundraising and volunteering for organizations important to them.”
Cohen is a member of the National Honor Society and holds board positions with her school’s Science Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor Society. She is also a member of the Art Honor Society, an active volunteer at Northwell Health—Plainview Hospital and an award winner with her high school’s Independent Research Honors program.
Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are leading to better understanding and moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million worldwide.
