MS Walk coming up

Posted on Apr 2, 2008 in Volunteering | 0 comments

UPDATE

Sorry, no photos to be had; we forgot our camera. There is a group photo of the “4 Dave” team we were a part of, but I don’t have it yet. The event was fun and included yummy new Pike Place Roast coffee from Starbucks. But, as I suspected walking around the back of an outlet mall and casino wasn’t exactly inspiring. Oh well, here’s to it brining the end of MS closer to reality!

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On Saturday, 12 April I’ll be up in Marysville participating in the Snohomish County MS Walk. My wife’s aunt is a staunch supporter of MS (multiple sclerosis) research because her cousin “Dave” died from MS three years ago. It’s in his honor that her team of MS Walkers is called “4 Dave.” She’s gathered a big group—20 people—to join the team for the fundraiser walk. That number includes my wife and me.

I hadn’t known much about MS, so I thought I’d share a very brief explanation of what it is (and provide a link to more information should you want it):

Having multiple sclerosis means that you may not be able to walk when you wake up. Or that you may suddenly have impaired vision. Or that your memory will fail you for no apparent reason. The symptoms of MS are different, and devastating, for everyone – the only certainty is that it will affect yet another person every hour of every day.

Doesn’t sound fun. I’m glad to be participating in the walk and hope some of my readers would consider donating if you’re interested. It is a good cause. But I noticed and felt it only fair to share the fact that just 82% of each dollar goes toward research; the rest covers overhead (the national chapter’s overall rating is 87.4%). That’s not a particularly great program-to-overhead ratio. For example, another group I volunteer with and donate to, Food Lifeline, spends an impressive 95.6% on program expenses (and, for each dollar provided, they’re able to provide $9 of food to hungry families). And the American Red Cross’ is 94% efficient with their donated money. Still, it will help so we’re contributing our own funds to the cause.

I’ll post some photos of the event afterward.