Do you need help getting the word out to people in your local area about the MS Challenge Walk?
Do you want people where you live to know about your personal commitment to fundraising for MS?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, approaching your local newspaper and asking them to do a human interest story about you and your participation in the MS Challenge Walk is a great way to get the word out.
Sue has been an MS Challenge Walker since 2003. She began her journey with MS in honor of two good friends who were diagnosed with MS in the early 1980s; since then, the list of people she proudly walks for has grown. Â Sue is committed to continue her fundraising efforts for as long as it takes. Â She has made lifelong friends at MS Challenge Walk and looks forward to spending one weekend each September with the ladies of Cabin 56! Sue works for UBS Financial Services in Boston and is a professional violinist. She lives in Woburn, MA, with her son, Nathan.
MS Challenge Walk is a dynamic community that draws people from around the world — yet it is a community that, like multiple sclerosis, is largely unseen. As we go about our day-to-day lives, our friends, family, and neighbors can't see what it is that drives us to walk 50 miles. Many people may not know what MS is, or that there is an event dedicated to seeing it end.
Volunteer Dan Young, who each year donates his photography skills to MS Challenge Walk, recently took an extra step to increasing awareness of MS by recruiting his employer to the cause: Access Nashua, a public access television station in Nashua, New Hampshire. Host Denise-Marie McIntosh invited four participants of MS Challenge Walk — Kevin Lombardi, James Derick, Marisa Bonanno, and me — onto her talk segment, Fairy Tale Access. We discussed how MS works, how it has affected our lives, what we do about it, and how viewers can help.
The show is scheduled to air during MS Awareness Week, March 11–17, on television stations around New England as well as YouTube. Watch for it next month on this blog, and in the meantime, enjoy this behind-the-scenes sneak preview!
Lost in the woods!
Lost in the woods!
Jim and Kevin keep their heads firmly in the clouds.
Jim and Kevin keep their heads firmly in the clouds.
What a photogenic bunch.
What a photogenic bunch.
The stage is set for our interview!
The stage is set for our interview!
Dan watches from the editing booth.
Dan watches from the editing booth.
James and Kevin went on the show first.
James and Kevin went on the show first.
Ken joined the MS Challenge Walk in 2005, more than a decade after his mother was diagnosed. After walking for three years and 150 miles, he switched to the support crew and now rides his bicycle along the trail, providing whatever encouragement (and snacks!) he can to the 600 walkers. He is also an alumnus of the event's steering committee and is this site's webmaster.
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that introduces you to the people and stories behind MS Challenge Walk.
This week, host Ken Gagne speaks with walkers and crew who participated in their first-ever MS Challenge Walk in 2012 about what brought them to the cause, how they trained for the undertaking, and their experiences on the trail. Those who spoke to Ken en route to the finish line include Rebecca Urquhart, Ashley Doyle, Trevor Fairbaugh, Rose Milefsky, Jodi Dwyer, Anne Marie Rogers, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Tigger, Sarah Matera, and Emily Flanders.
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that shares the stories and experiences of veterans of those who have walked three days and 50 miles to bring the world closer to a cure for multiple sclerosis, courtesy the National MS Society's MS Challenge Walk. You can subscribe to the show for free in Apple iTunes!
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that introduces you to the people and stories behind MS Challenge Walk.
This week, host Ken Gagne speaks with Carolyn Rossi, captain of Walk With Wheels. When Carolyn was diagnosed with MS thirteen years ago, her friends wanted to do something to help. But how could she let them do something she wasn't willing to do herself? She signed up for MS Challenge Walk — and has been tackling it from her red wheelchair every year since. The only help she accepts is knowing her husband is on bicycle crew and her son Ethan is cheering her on; with that support, she tackles every hill herself, refusing to lie down on the job, determined to see a day when there is no more need for this event.
This is the final episode of MS Challenge Talk. Thank you to all our guests and listeners for having been a part of this wonderful series of interviews!
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that shares the stories and experiences of veterans of those who have walked three days and 50 miles to bring the world closer to a cure for multiple sclerosis, courtesy the National MS Society's MS Challenge Walk. You can subscribe to the show for free in Apple iTunes!
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that introduces you to the people and stories behind MS Challenge Walk.
This week, host Ken Gagne speaks with Sara Bromley, captain of Sara's Steele. Sara participated in her first MS Challenge Walk in 2011. Despite being an employee of the National MS Society's Connecticut chapter, she tackled the event with the same training and fundraising requirements as any walker. In this interview, hear her speak from the three perspectives of a patient with MS, a walker, and an NMSS employee.
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that shares the stories and experiences of veterans of those who have walked three days and 50 miles to bring the world closer to a cure for multiple sclerosis, courtesy the National MS Society's MS Challenge Walk. You can subscribe to the show for free in Apple iTunes!
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that introduces you to the people and stories behind MS Challenge Walk.
This week, host Ken Gagne speaks with Debra Flanagan of Jerry's Jems. Deb walks every year in honor of her father, who has lived with MS since before Deb can remember. In this interview, she talks about what is "normal" for a family with MS, what she gets from her NMSS family and on Facebook that she can't find anywhere else, and why Jerry's Jems doesn't feel competitive with other teams — because we're all on the same team: "The ultimate goal is getting rid of MS. Getting a cure. Getting it gone — donezo — complete — put with the dinosaurs — seeya later."
Also this week, hear from Brenda Barbour, the NMSS Greater New England Chapter's Associate Vice President of Volunteer Development, in an excerpt from last week's crew meeting as she prepares her volunteers for an amazing event.
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that shares the stories and experiences of veterans of those who have walked three days and 50 miles to bring the world closer to a cure for multiple sclerosis, courtesy the National MS Society's MS Challenge Walk. You can subscribe to the show for free in Apple iTunes!
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that introduces you to the people and stories behind MS Challenge Walk.
This week, host Ken Gagne speaks with Judy Lecesse of Cocktails for a Cure. Having previously served on the crew as a member of the "lunch bunch", Judy is making MS Challenge Walk 2012 the first time she'll join her team's walkers in strolling 50 miles across Cape Cod. How does she go from no required fundraising to $1,500 minimum? By selling jewelry! Listen to her sales pitch and the interactions she has with her family-based team in this interview.
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that shares the stories and experiences of veterans of those who have walked three days and 50 miles to bring the world closer to a cure for multiple sclerosis, courtesy the National MS Society's MS Challenge Walk. You can subscribe to the show for free in Apple iTunes!
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that introduces you to the people and stories behind MS Challenge Walk.
This week, host Ken Gagne speaks with Jodi Dwyer, captain of The Bean Team. When Jodi was diagnosed with MS just a few years ago, she immediately became an activist, walking the one-day Boston walk and becoming a crew captain at the MS Challenge Walk, where she organized events under the Big Top Tent. This year will mark her first as a walker. In this interview, Jodi discusses why she wasted no time in becoming involved in the NMSS, and how she and her team are transitioning from six miles to fifty.
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that shares the stories and experiences of veterans of those who have walked three days and 50 miles to bring the world closer to a cure for multiple sclerosis, courtesy the National MS Society's MS Challenge Walk. You can subscribe to the show for free in Apple iTunes!
Welcome to MS Challenge Talk, a weekly audio recording that introduces you to the people and stories behind MS Challenge Walk.
