Why not piggyback on one MS Society fundraiser for another!!

  

   The past few years I've walked in the Walk MS and raised money for MS research that way.  I had a lot of very generous people help me on my mission.

     Now that I'm riding in the Bike MS  "Bike To The Bay", I felt like I needed to focus on this event, so rather than ask all of my wonderful friends to help me twice this year, I wouldn't walk and focus on the Bike.

     However, when I was at a "Bike To The Bay" planning committee meeting, Alberta Hunt from the National MS Society asked if anyone could sit and man the Bike MS booth at the Walk.  Of course most of the eyes looked down because you know if you make eye contact then you will certainly be delegated.

     But you know me, I don't really care for that awkward silence so I said I would.  I asked Alberta what time I needed to be there and she said from 7:00 AM until I turned 65!  What did I get myself into!?  

     Then after a couple of days it occurred to me that I could dip into this pool for some more prospects for my team.  I figured it wouldn't be a conflict of interest because the Walk was already taking place so I wouldn't feel guilty pulling potential  prospects from the Walk.  They would either be psyched up from having just done the walk and want to get involved in the Bike MS, or ready to keel over, then ask me if I was crazy.



     I was sure to wear my cute "Team Leapfrog" shirt so if nothing else maybe I could promote our team that way. I wasn't getting my hopes up though; I mean, these people were probably already exhausted from doing the walk and the Bike MS was probably the furthest thing from their minds.

     Well I was wrong.  I couldn't believe how many people were interested in riding in the Bike To The Bay.  It did make sense though.  A lot of walkers were there because they had a loved one with MS or they themselves had it.

     At this point I decided to pull out my "MS card".  I have it, I may as well use it;)  Anyone who even glanced for a second at the Bike MS literature was now a candidate for my team.  The funny thing was, almost every person who stopped at the Bike booth was interested in riding.  And when I told them I have MS and that's why I started team leapfrog they immediately wanted to be on my team.

     I gave out quite a few of my Leapfrog cards and now I'll just wait to see how many new riders I get for my team. Fingers crossed that my team will be bigger than ever!  Remember, My goal is now 50, but that could change because we're already at 32.

      As always the turnout for the walk was overwhelming, and it was amazing to see how many people from our community wanted to help in this cause.

     I also ran into a couple of my team members which I hadn't met yet, as well as my friend and fellow blogger Nani, who also has MS and just recently completed the training to become the MS support group leader in this area!  Congrats Nani!

     The biggest reward I received from volunteering at the  Walk was seeing how many people truly wanted to help us in our fight to cure MS.  Now I'm even more excited to see the same enthusiasm  at the Bike To The Bay!!

Have a great day!!

Christine:)