For the first time in its 11 year history, the 2020 Kidney March will be hosting a team from Northern B.C.
Due to COVID-19 and physical distancing requirements, the three-day, 100-kilometer event will be happening in two parts according to the event page.
At first, marchers will start by walking 70 kilometers between August 10th and September 10th, then they will connect virtually between September 11-13 to walk ten kilometers a day, completing the remaining 30.
“The cause is inspiring because, for most of the years of my career, I’ve worked alongside the Kidney Foundation of Canada,” said Maureen Paciejewski, a ‘semi-retired’ renal nurse at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. (UNHBC).
“I have worked in the renal services department at UNHBC for approximately 30 years. I retired about a year and a half ago, and shortly after I retired I got an email about the march,” she said.
That marked the creation of team ‘Northern I-B-Pro-Fun free,’ comprised of Paciejewski and nine other nurses at the University Hospital.
“After working with and serving all these renal patients for all or most of my career, I just feel like I have the opportunity to give something back now, after all of these years,” she explained.
The team name comes with a moral; one of the biggest teaching messages health professionals have for new kidney disease patients is to protect the function that they do have.
Medications with Ibuprofen can be damaging to kidney function, Paciejewski says, especially for people with existing renal system issues.
In addition to walking 100 km, marchers are tasked with raising at least $2,200 for the cause.
The team has a collective goal of raising $20,100 dollars and would have been on track if it weren’t for COVID-19.
“It really knocked the wind out of ourselves as individuals trying to fundraise. We were also finding it really difficult to ask people just to make donations because all of us a sudden people are having job instability and financial insecurity, “Paciejewski said.
“We are climbing a bit. A couple of us have reached our personal goal of $2,200,” she added, pointing out the team is sitting at just over $12,000.
The team will finish the final 30 kilometers of their trek on September 12 at the Centennial trail.
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