IDON'T GENERALLY cover walk-a-thons or other fund-raisers in this space. There are so many, there'd be no room for other subjects.

But when I got an impassioned plea from two women named Janice, about a life-and-death issue that's affected their children and so many others, I couldn't say no.

When Janice Davies and Janice Noel put their energies into Saturday's Fredericksburg Area Sickle Cell Association's "Walk for Awareness," it couldn't be more personal.

The walk-a-thon kicks off at 9 a.m. at Shiloh (New Site) Baptist Church in downtown Fredericksburg Saturday, and is being used to mark the annual membership drive for the Fredericksburg group.

Davies, the group's co-president, helped her husband, Lawrence A. Davies, found the organization in 1972 after learning that their daughter had the disease.

The couple and others realized there was a critical need for an organization that could provide education, increase awareness and push to improve health-care services for sickle-cell patients.

"We didn't know much about the disease, about those who carry the sickle-cell trait, about any of that," said Davies. "Promoting awareness of the disease and the importance of getting tested for the sickle-cell trait, in order to make wise decisions, are still some of our major functions."

For those as uninformed as I: Sickle-cell disease affects more than 50,000 people in this country, and is also found in individuals from the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and Africa.

One in 375 African-American children is born with sickle-cell disease; one in 10 African-American children is born with the sickle-cell trait.

The disease itself is an inherited disorder which causes the red blood cells to change from their soft, round shape to a long, hard "sickle" or crescent shape.

These sickle-shaped cells are stiff and often clog the body's blood vessels, blocking the flow of blood and oxygen and causing pain and damage.

Janice Noel, the group's vice president, knows all too well about the damage the disease leaves in its wake.

Her 14-year-old son, P.J., has been in and out of the hospital in recent years to deal with various problems caused by the disease, and is now readying for surgery to his hip and shoulder.