For the past two years, Charles Cook and a team of family and friends have driven to Birmingham to walk for arthritis research. Cook’s wife was crippled by the disease and after her death in 2004, the family decided that raising money for arthritis research would be one way to honor her memory.

Thursday, Cook joined several others at Russell Medical Center to discuss an opportunity to raise money for arthritis patients in the area by hosting the county’s first arthritis walk in Alexander City.