From the Fremont Argus, April 4, 2013
By Chris De Benedetti, Ashly McGlone and Rebecca Parr, Bay Area News Group
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/ci_22957068?source=rss
Zack Soares, a student at Brookvale Elementary School in Fremont, hasn’t just lived with arthritis the past six years. He has attacked it.
Zack, 10, is one of 300,000 children in the U.S. with arthritis, a disease in which patients suffer chronic pain or inflammation around the body’s joints. Ever since being diagnosed with the condition in 2007, the Fremont boy has doggedly worked to educate people about it. He also has sought to raise money to help others, said Beth Miller, an official with the Arthritis Foundation, an organization that aims to improve the lives of patients.
“Zack’s mission is to raise awareness about this disease and let other kids know they are not alone with this diagnosis,” Miller
Zack has started a walking squad, called Team Zack Attack, which will participate in the 2013 Tri-Valley Arthritis Walk, a fundraiser scheduled next month in Livermore. His efforts have inspired others at his school, and they have formed their own squad, Team Brookvale Elementary.
That work, and the inspirational fighting spirit he’s shown while doing it, are starting to earn him notice. He was honored Tuesday by the city of Fremont with a special proclamation declaring May 4 to be Team Zack Attack Day.
Zack also was named the Tri-Valley Arthritis Walk Youth Honoree. The fundraiser is scheduled for 8 a.m. May 4 at LifeStyleRx, 1119 E. Stanley Blvd. in Livermore.
For more information, call 415-356-5483 or go to www.artritiswalk.org.
