CFHS walk is a Parseghian tribute

By Alexis Blue

SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR

If you go

What: One More Victory, Ara! 5K Walk/Fun Run.

Where: Rillito Park, 4502 N. First Ave.

When: The walk begins at 9 a.m. Saturday. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

Cost: $15 registration fee.

For more information: Visit the Web site www.cfhswalk.com.

Also coming up:

More ways to help — and see country music star Vince Gill in person

The weekend following the run is the 13th annual One More Victory, Ara! Celebrity Golf and Gala Weekend, presented by University Medical Center April 25-26.

While the golf is sold out, tickets to the April 26 gala at the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa are available for $250 a person. The gala will feature a silent auction and performance by country music star Vince Gill. Tickets are available by calling 577-5106.

A group of Catalina Foothills High School students will hold a memorial walk this weekend to honor a former classmate and raise money to fight a deadly disease.

Marcia Parseghian was 16 years old in 2005 when she died of Niemann-Pick Type C disease, a neurodegenerative disease that causes progressive nervous-system deterioration in children. Two of Marcia's siblings, Michael and Christa, also students in the Catalina Foothills District, died of the same disease in 1997 and 2001, respectively.

On Saturday, the Catalina Foothills High School Student Council will hold its fourth annual One More Victory, Ara! 5K Walk/Fun Run to raise money for the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, dedicated to funding medical research for the treatment and cure of Niemann-Pick Type C.

The foundation is named for former Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian, the grandfather of the Parseghian children. His namesake grandson, Ara, age 24, is the only one of the Parseghian children not stricken with the disease.

The Catalina Foothills High School Student Council has raised more than $60,000 for the foundation since it began holding the walk four years ago, said Alex Deo, an 18-year-old senior who heads the six-member student committee organizing the walk.

Deo said the Student Council hopes to break the $80,000 mark this year with the event at Rillito Park, 4502 N. First Ave.

"It's to support a family that has suffered great losses and to help find a cure for kids in the same situation in our community and communities across the country," Deo said.

Walkers will follow a designated path along the Rillito River Park Trail. It costs $15 to take part in the event, and runners and walkers are encouraged to collect pledges from friends and family, Deo said.

Registration and pledge forms are available online at www.cfhswalk.com and at the event, which begins at 9 a.m.

In addition to the walk, there will be food, a DJ and free massages, Deo said. T-shirts will be sold for $15 apiece, and all money raised through the event will go to the foundation.

"They are so incredibly committed to helping raise awareness and funds for a very important cause," said Peg Romano, assistant director of the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation. "It's wonderful to see kids who have that drive and compassion and want to do something beyond themselves at that age."

Molly Siegel, the 2006 Catalina Foothills graduate who started the walk, said she's thrilled to see it become a continued tradition for the school.

Now a 20-year-old sophomore at Harvard University, Siegel was close friends with Marcia and the Parseghian family.

"It was hard to see the effects on their family and friends. It was terribly sad," Siegel said via telephone. "The Parseghians were really connected to the Foothills community."

Marcia Parseghian was still alive for the first walk and was able to successfully cross the finish line, Siegel said.

"It was wonderful she could make it," she said.

Student Council faculty adviser Bud Bonetti said he's proud of the work his students have done to support the Parseghian foundation.

"My kids basically run the show," he said. "It really brings our school community together to help raise money to find a cure."