April 20, 2013, was a cold and raw Saturday morning. Despite the less than desirable weather, approximately 50 people came out to the Mercy Centre in Worcester, MA to support Team Walk With Wheels for our first ever MS Volleyball Tournament. Among the teams who came out, we had one of our very own MS Challenge Walk teams (Team Sole Train) come out!

This event was a new event idea for us as a team, and it helped demonstrate how reaching out to your extended team members can help raise funds for your team event. Oftentimes, people think that actual walkers on a given team are the only people who can organize and run events. This is far from the truth!

About one month ago, Carolyn and I reached out to a friend from our church. We knew that this friend had a passion for volleyball and he also organizes sport based activities for our church. We asked him if he would be interested in organizing a volleyball tournament. for us He happily agreed to pull something together.

A few weeks later, Dan informed us that he had designed a flyer for the event and that he already had a few teams that were interested. He also informed us that he had secured a facility and a referee for the event. The event was open for up to eight teams.

Fast forward a few weeks and all eight teams arrived at the Mercy Centre ready to compete and to help raise funds for MS. Dan started the event out with an introduction to Carolyn Rossi (captain of Team Walk With Wheels) and explained that the funds collected for this event were helping people like her.

One at a time, teams went up against teams, slamming the ball around the court. The first game started at 9 AM sharp. As the morning went on the brackets started to fill and teams were advancing toward the final game. As teams took breaks, Dan's wife Loraine graciously stood and served a variety of home prepared foods, baked goods and drinks, which also benefited the National MS Society.

By the end of the event, it was down to two remaining teams of the original eight. The games had become super competitive, and we saw some pretty serious moves! In the end, team Spike City won the tournament and were rewarded with extra large chocolate bars!

After the clean up was taken care of and everyone had returned to their homes, the final tally came in for funds raised. On April 24, 2013, I delivered roughly $600 to the MS Society office for Team Walk With Wheels! Great job to everyone who came out and helped! We couldn't have done it without your support.

I hope this recap encourages you to reach outside the box. It has been mentioned many times at kickstart meetings and the like. If you try to take it all on your shoulders alone, it seems burdensome. Look among your friends and social circle for people who already enjoy doing a particular activity and see if you can leverage their passion and joy of that thing for the benefit of helping people live a life free from MS.

Brian, a resident of Central Massachusetts, has participated for several years in the MS Challenge Walk as a member of the bike support crew.  Not only does his wife Carolyn have MS, but his grandmother had MS and eventually died from complications related to it. Brian is best known to as the provider of tropical flavored Starbursts and Jolly Rancher candies along the trail.