CATCH YOU ON THE FLIP SIDE

Thank you for your readership and subscription to the MS Activist blog! In assessing each of our communications with MS activists (assessments are necessary given our limited non-profit resources), we've recognized that this blog needs some change. We’re shifting the way we present information in order to better support your engagement in MS activism—so read on to find out where to find what info!

Want News? The “news” content of this blog will now be featured on our website. From now on, please visit   nationalmssociety.org/advocacy/ for an up-to-date feed of recent MS advocacy news. Clicking the feed icon will allow you to subscribe to the news feed as you do your other important news. You can expect this news feed to:

• announce or provide summaries of the Society’s large advocacy events and activities

• highlight MS advocacy progress or successes at the local, state and federal levels. State and local advocacy news will also appear on your chapter’s home page and in local blogs including:

-Washington/Montana/Alaska : "We Move MS" http://wemovems.blogspot.com/

-North and South Carolina: "activisMS"  http://activisms.blogspot.com/

Are You a Digital MS Activist? In the spirit of blogging and social media engagement, please become a digital MS activist by following the easy steps at nationalMSsociety.org/digiMSactivist, which includes Twitter lists and hashtags to follow (start with #MSactivist), how to find your public officials on Facebook and more!

Want Updates and Action Alerts? Receive federal advocacy news and opportunities to take action, be sure to join the MS Activist Network .

Craving Personal Stories and Connection? Stories of MS activists and the importance of activism in the MS movement will continue to be featured on our MS Connection blog at: http://www.msconnection.org/Blog . These stories aim to encourage other people who care about MS to take action or to become MS activists. If you have a story to share (are you a blogger in the rough?), please visit nationalMSsociety.org/mystory to share, or connect with others who have similar interests and passions at MSconnection.org.

Again, thank you so much for your readership and comments over the years! We look forward to connecting with you – and connecting you with other MS activists and your officials – in the ways YOU want to moving forward!

The Public Policy Office's blog is "moving" 

RIDING FOR A WORLD FREE OF MS

Each year, the National MS Society’s Bike MS events bring people together to help create a world free of MS by raising funds and awareness. The funds are used to support programs, services, and MS research. The Society’s National Capital Chapter hosted Bike MS: Ride the Riverside on June 8-9, where 900 cyclists gathered in National Harbor in Fort Washington, Maryland, with a single mission—to end MS.

This year’s two-day ride was the 31st anniversary of the D.C. metropolitan area’s Bike MS, the longest-running cycling event in the area. Bike MS: Ride the Riverside had a variety of routes ranging from 30 miles in one day to up to 132 miles over two days. Together, these dedicated riders raised more than $700,000! At the finish line, participants were met with food and drink along with live music, massages, and lots of cheering fans.

Julie Baker with a teammate

Rider Julie Baker of Fairfax, Virginia, wore an orange tutu and described the Bike MS: Ride the Riverside enthusiastically. “It was a fun course and great atmosphere!” Baker was riding for her daughter, Cora, who diagnosed with MS last year at the age of 20. Baker also mentioned that she planned on riding again next year.

Bike MS: Ride the Riverside with the National Capital Chapter is one of the Society's 100 rides taking place across the United States this year. Over the next few months, riders in all states across the country will bike to create a world free from MS. Are you interested in participating in Bike MS? It may not be too late! Click here to find a ride near you. 

MuckFestMS, a mud and obstacle fun-run, is also in full swing for the summer! Click here to see if you can still participate! 

Thank you to all of the riders, volunteers, and cheering fans who help make Bike MS: Ride the Riverside a success!

Saul Pilchen at the finish!

A furry friend cheers on the cyclists!

“ACTVST” LICENSE PLATE SPOTTED IN NEW YORK!

Steve Davis with his NMSS "ACTVST" plate

MS activist Steve Davis now has another way to display his involvement with activism and the National MS Society: his car’s license plate. In New York, MS Coalition Action Network and the Department of Motor Vehicles launched a custom MS license plate to benefit pediatric MS research and raise awareness about MS.  The Davis’s car is now adorned with a National MS Society license plate that has “ACTVST” across the plate. “My daughter and I went through many custom plates available, and ‘ACTVST’ was available and just perfect,” Steve remarks. Sales from the MS License Plate Program have provided more than $26,000 for pediatric MS research.

Steve Davis has been an MS activist since 2008, when his wife of 21 years, Liz, was diagnosed with MS. After Liz’s diagnosis, Steve first got involved with the Society's Long Island Chapter through Bike MS, Walk MS, and NYC's climb to the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  In December 2011, the Davis’s were asked to be guests on Anderson Cooper's talk show "Anderson" to talk about the effect of MS on their family.  “MS has affected all of us, including our children, Charlotte and Joey,” Steve says. Liz is now in a clinical trial for a disease modifying therapy for MS.

Liz, Steve, Charlotte, and Joey Davis on "Anderson"

This past January, Steve was chosen as Government Relations Committee (GRC) Co-Chair of the Long Island Chapter, New York, and attended the Society’s Public Policy Conference (PPC) in Washington, D.C. in March.  On May 21, Steve traveled to Albany, for a mini State Action Day with his 20- year- old daughter, Charlotte, who also is a GRC member and newly sworn in Navy Recruit. Steve, Charlotte, and other MS activists met with state legislators to ask for support for programs that affect those living with MS.

MS activists with Assemblyman Lavine (NY-13)

Steve remarks that although progress has been made, MS activists are still needed to push for change. “We have come a long way in the past 30+ years, and it is important that we don't stop until MS is cured or at least treated in a way that disability from MS is avoided.” Spoken like a true activist!

To read more about the program or to order a National MS Society license plate in New York, please click here.

Other states also offer a similar license plate program in conjunction with the National MS Society, so please contact your local chapter to see if you can order a National MS Society license plate today!