The first “Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis Walk” in Northern California was held on Saturday May 10th at De Anza College from 4:00-8:00 P.M. Around 350 walkers came out to show support at De Anza. Many participants formed walk teams, and were encouraged by coordinators to be as loud as possible to encourage onlookers to take notice. Many were touting maracas, and others were just cheering, clapping, and shouting at the top of their lungs trying to raise awareness about these digestive diseases. With the help of all these participants the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America was able to raise 73,000 dollars, and “eighty cents of every dollar raised goes directly to the foundation.”, said Walk Organizer Trish WynneThe Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation will be hosting “Take Steps” events throughout the country in order to “is to raise awareness about the diseases and to gain support for the organization.” said WynneCrohn’s and Colitis are both digestive diseases under the larger umbrella of illnesses called inflammatory bowel disease. Both diseases are chronic conditions, and the root cause of them is not really known. Symptoms of crohn’s disease and colitis are similar and about 10% of all the cases cannot be classified as one or the other. Crohn’s disease can affect any portion of the gastrointestinal tract and ulcerative colitis is limited to the colon. Many teams made light of this traditionally uncomfortable subject within their teams names and slogans. Examples include, Team No Colon Still Rollin, Team Teal whose slogan was “Where’s Jamie? In the Bathroom!”, and culminated with Torrance, California resident Chuck Greenberg donning a toilet bowl around his neck reading “Team Megan Poopsalot”.Megan Nardini, a Fremont High School Junior and Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation honored hero said “This is a disease people don’t talk about.” Megan was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at 12 years old and has since been involved in community outreach work for irritable bowl disease. “It is really great to raise awareness about these diseases on college campuses. Since the onset of both these diseases is between 15 and 35″said Wynne Another portion of the donations goes to the Foundation’s Camp Oasis. This camp is designed for children between the ages of seven and sixteen living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Miriam Boxerman, Education and Support Manager for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation said “It’s just so wonderful to see kids with digestive diseases in an environment where they are fully supported, and can just forget about everything and have fun. “After the walk the “Take Steps” participants were able to partake in the all the other festivities. The event featured live entertainment by “Fast Lane”, and many were dancing and shaking their maracas all night long. The participants who weren’t dancing were generally huddled around the cotton candy machine and food tables, or mingling among the crowd.