Middle Tennessee Christian School in Murfreesboro will hold a pancake breakfast at the school in honor of a student with juvenile arthritis on Wednesday (11/28/12) from 7:00 until 8:00 a.m.  The cost is $4 for adults and $2 for children. 

14-year-old Middle Tennessee Christian School student Matthew Firkins is the Junior Honoree for the 2012 Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis coming up this Saturday in downtown Franklin.  He started having symptoms of arthritis at the age of five, but was not diagnosed until earlier this year with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.  His family has joined the fight to raise awareness of this disease in children and to raise money for local programs and research.  Their team, the Firkins Fighters, will be out in force at the Jingle Bell Run this Saturday.

 “We are excited to support Matthew and show him that our faculty and students care about him” says Kelley Mullins, a 5th grade teacher and the 330 Service Club Sponsor at the school.  “Many of us have watched Matthew suffer in silence, before he was finally diagnosed with juvenile arthritis.  Through his pain, Matthew continued to be extremely active in service club activities.  He has served so many people, it is now our turn to serve him.”

Arthritis is much more widespread than imagined, affecting 50 million Americans, roughly one out of five adults, and approximately 300,000 children.  In Tennessee, more than 1.2 million adults and nearly 6,000 children have a doctor-diagnosed form of arthritis.  Matthew Firkins is just one of the local faces of this disease.

As the nation’s largest holiday run/walk event, the Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis offers a five kilometer timed run, a one-mile fun walk and a Santa Chase for kids 8 and under.  Statistics show that walking for 30 minutes regularly, can greatly reduce your risk for certain forms of arthritis. So sign up and join one of the nearly 150 Jingle Bell Run/Walks for Arthritis nationwide and spread some cheer by helping to prevent arthritis this holiday season.

For information about the pancake breakfast on Wednesday or the Jingle Bell Run/Walk in Franklin, contact (615) 806-8541 or email dscobey@arthritis.org .