HOBART | The eighth annual Walk for Lupus Now event will be held Saturday at Festival Park, featuring a 5K/3.1-mile noncompetitive walk to benefit the Lupus Foundation of America, Indiana Chapter.

Participants are asked to secure sponsors based on a flat dollar amount to raise money for the LFA. The sponsorship minimum is $25 for adults and $10 for students. The first 300 participants will receive a T-shirt and goody bag.

Gold Sponsors for the event include Americall, and Spring Mill Health Campus in Merrillville

Pledge submission and event-day registration will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday. Coffee, juice and doughnuts will be provided for walkers. Entertainment will include live music, clowns, face painting, a vendor show and silent auction.

The walk begins at 10 a.m., heading around Lake George and through the neighborhoods surrounding the lakefront park located at 111 E. Old Ridge Road. Hot dogs, popcorn and drinks will be provided for participants at the post-event celebration.

More than 300 participants walked in 2007, raising $25,000. Proceeds are used to increase lupus awareness, maintain support groups, provide information to newly diagnosed lupus patients and their families, educate the public and support research.

Teams from businesses, schools, churches and civic organizations participate in this family friendly event. "Participants include lupus patients and their families, parents with young children in wagons and strollers, high school students, college fraternities, church youth groups and more," said Susan Colby, Walk for Lupus Now chairperson.

High school students can earn required service hours for school. "If students set up a fundraising home page on www.walkforlupusnowhobart.kintera.org and participate in all Sept. 13 activities, they should be able to earn at least four service hours," said Colby.

To make a general donation or support a walker, access http://walkforlupusnowhobart.kintera.org.

For more information about the walk, contact Colby, at (219) 924-1910 or lupuswalk-08@comcast.net

Approximately 1.5 million Americans have a form of lupus. Based on 2006 census information, it is estimated that 34,187 Indiana residents have lupus; including 2,671 Lake County residents, 865 residents in Porter County and 597 residents in LaPorte County.

The Lupus Foundation of America, Indiana Chapter, headquartered at 2642 Eleanor St. in Portage, provides awareness and education for the signs and symptoms of lupus for early diagnosis and treatment. Volunteers from the chapter facilitate free support group meetings in Lake and Porter counties as well as Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Richmond and Evansville. For more information about the chapter, call (800) 948-8806 toll free or visit www.lupusindiana.org

- For The Times