Eight-year-old Emma Boyd took part in Sunday's MS Walk for a very simple reason:"'Cause my friend Suzie died of it,” she said.

Boyd is referring to her friend Suzie Bernier, who at 49 passed away with the disease two years ago.

She and her mother Anne-Marie Peeters were two of the 72 people who took to the trail, which began at Shipyards Park and passed the SS Klondike and Robert Service Campground along Millennium Trail, a total of 8 kilometres.

Peeters and Boyd were among the first to return to Shipyards Park for the barbecue.

Peeters is a nursing-home attendant with Copper Ridge Place, a 96-bed facility that provides extended care and complex chronic care for those who require extensive daily assistance, monitoring and/or professional care on a 24-hour basis.

She's seen the affects of MS (Multiple Sclerosis), a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, first hand.

"It's an awful disease and I hope they'll find a cure soon,” Peeters said. "I've seen people pass away with MS. It really has touched me. So I come out in memory of (Suzie). I feel empathy, and coming out and supporting MS, I think it's a way that I can show that I care and support the community here in Whitehorse.”

This year marked the fourth annual BC and Yukon Chapter of Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada Scotiabank MS Walk, three of which Tania Doyle has been coordinator.

The money raised this year surpassed last year's total of $10,000.

Dalton said today that the unofficial number is at $10,500, excluding online donations that came in over the weekend.

She was informed via conference call that Whitehorse was one of the only communities country-wide which saw an increase in donations, she said.

Anyone interested in adding to that tally can still donate online at www.mswalks.ca.

"We have about the same number of walkers as last year, but we raised more money this year,” Dalton said.

"Whitehorse is great for donating, businesses and people coming out for support.

"I didn't expect this; I expected half of this amount.... I'm just amazed.”

The money raised will go to the national organization to fund research and support. In the Yukon, for instance, specialists will visit from British Columbia, as well as outreach and support groups.

Each year, the National MS Society designates a local team to receive 10 per cent of what it raises, Dalton explained.

The local chapter doesn't get funding from the head office otherwise, she noted.

"They get support, but any money to host their own meetings or whatever they need to raise through this.”

Fundraising to fight MS is trickier than fundraising for other diseases, she said.

"Unfortunately MS is a very quiet disease. People who have it don't necessarily want other people to know. It's a varying disease; people can have various symptoms that can be very minor, so they're still capable of working,” Dalton said.

"And then some people have horrible affects, where they're confined to a wheel chair. … So you don't hear people really coming out like with cancer: ‘I'm a survivor!' It's a lot quieter.”

Dalton got involved because she simply enjoys fund-raising, she said.

"I know people with MS. I enjoy fund-raising for the cause and helping out,” said Dalton, who is originally from Saskatchewan and coordinated walks there when she was younger.

Peeters was happy to see an increase in funds from last year.

"I hope we raise more again next year.”

Multiple Sclerosis is the most common neurological disease of young adults in Canada. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 40, and the unpredictable effects of MS can last for the rest of their lives.

The MS Society provides services to people with MS and their families, and funds research to find the cause, prevention, treatment and cure for this disease.

For more information, visit http://www.mssociety.ca, http://www.endMS.ca or call (604) 602-3220.