Strawberry Place, Local Families Fight MS

One of Nyack's favorite breakfast stops will be helping to combat multiple sclerosis (MS) later this month, when residents walk Rockland Lake State Park to help find a cure and raise awareness for the disease.

is helping fundraise for the April 28 2012 Walk MS Rockland County event in Valley Cottage. It will be the family-run business' fourth year participating; patrons can make a donation at the restaurant and have their name displayed on the walls.

"We're posting paper cut-outs of orange shoes with the donor's name on them," said Alaina Haggerty, whose father, Michael Haggerty, was diagnosed with MS in 1996. Her uncle and Michael's brother-in-law, Vincent Cuccia, owns Strawberry Place.

"[My father] is a fighter and is very determined to not allow the MS from letting him do the things he wants to do," Haggerty added.

Haggerty and her sister first participated in the event in 2009—last year, Haggerty's team had over 50 walking. Over the past four years, their teams have raised more than $10,000.

The three-mile walk is presented by —which an MS Center—and organized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

MS is a chronic disease that assails the central nervous system and, in severe cases, can cause paralysis and blindness.

The Rockland event aims to raise $180,000, and Haggerty and her team have already raised over $1,500 individually.

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The details

• 2012 Walk MS Rockland County will be held Saturday, April 28, 8 a.m. at Rockland Lake in Valley Cottage.

• To donate online or join Alaina Haggerty's team, click here.

• Strawberry Place is located at 72 South Broadway, Nyack.