Kim Wimmer | From the Kim Wimmer Benefit page on Facebook

Seven years ago, Kim Wimmer was a popular elementary school teacher whose passions included running, traveling with her husband Gary, camping with their large circle of friends, and cooking.

Today, she needs a handicapped-equipped van and a motorized wheelchair to get around. A home aide stops by twice a week to help with chores such as cleaning, laundry and cooking.

In 2006, Wimmer, 48, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory neurological disease that affects more than 400,000 American adults. Even worse, she has the most aggressive kind: primary progressive MS.

She may have lost much of her mobility, but Wimmer certainly hasn’t lost her friends.

Mindful of the financial strains her family is going through because of her illness, they’ve already raised more than $10,000 to help out via a golf tournament in Salem; a “Kim Wimmer Night” at Hollywood’s Restaurant and Bakery; and a “Cut-a-thon” this past Saturday at St. Pierre’s Hair Salon in Salem during Olde Salem Days.

This upcoming Saturday, they’ll do it again, with a day-long fundraiser in Salem that will feature many of the Roanoke Valley’s “local legend” rock n’ roll musicians.

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Grafic by Dan