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Team Captain Guide |
FAQs
Is there a registration fee? How much money do I have to raise?
There is no required registration fee or pledge minimum, but this is a fundraising event. We fully expect a pledge to the National MS Society to support programs and services for the 11,000 people living with MS in our area. For those who do chose to fundraise, there are a lot of fun incentives that can be viewed on our Prize Page.
How do I qualify for a T-shirt or other prizes?
You need to raise and turn in $100 to earn an official Walk MS t-shirt. There are other great prizes you can earn as you reach higher fundraising levels. Learn more here.
How long is the Walk?
Our fully accessible walks will have routes ranging from three miles to six miles. However, there is always additional support along the route, if needed.
What about inclement weather?
Each walk will take place rain or shine. However, we do have several plans in place to accommodate inclement weather that will allow us to be safe and still enjoy the event. Please tune into your local weather reports in the morning to determine if it's safe for you and your family to attend the walk. In addition, our Facebook and website will be updated to reflect any event changes.
After Walk MS is over, where do I turn in my money?
You may drop off any cash donations at one of our chapter offices during business hours. Checks may be made payable to The National MS Society or NMSS. Please write your name on the memo portion of each check so that they can be added to your fundraising total. Send all check donations to:
National MS Society
Mid America Chapter
7611 State Line Rd; Ste100
Kansas City, MO 64114
How do I get receipts for my donors?
You can download these forms and make as many copies as you need.
How do I claim my prize after the Walk?
Everyone who qualifies for a prize will be sent a postcard informing them of their qualification. The information to claim the prize will be sent electronically so make sure the MS Society has a current email address on file for you!
You also have the option to decline your prize and join our Mission First Club. By declining a prize, more of the money you raised stays at the MS Society to support the vital research and programs that are part of our mission - a world free of MS. If you would like to join the Mission First Club, email us at midamericachapter@nmss.org. You can join at any time! You don’t have to wait for the prize deadline.
Share Your Story
We all have reasons we walk or volunteer. Here is where you can share your story. Tell us why you have joined the movement. Want to share a picture or video with your story? Send it to Tara Duerr at tara.duerr@nmss.org.
Angela Hereth - Walk MS Lincoln participant
I walk because I was diagnosed in 1999 age 27, three months after having my son. I can still walk and will keep going the best I can for my son, husband, family and friends. I hope to keep others positive and hope for a cure.
Dave Seales - Walk MS St. Joseph participant
I walk and volunteer because since my mom was diagnosed over 7 years ago, I have seen first hand how MS affects the lives of people who have been diagnosed. While there have been great strides in the treatment of MS symptoms, including the recent release of oral medications...there is still no cure for this debilitating and frustrating disease. I walk for my mom and to help support the efforts to find more ways to treat the symptoms of MS and eventually, and hopefully....to find a cure.
Sarah Zulkoski - Walk MS Omaha participant
My Dad was diagnosed with MS when I was in very young. My paternal aunt and older sister also have the disease. When my younger sister was diagnosed in 2002 at the age of 19, my family was familiar with the disease. My sister was determined to not let MS get her down and to continue living an active life. I was diagnosed with MS in 2011 at the age of 34. I know by my sister's example that WE can beat this; WE can live an active, normal life. WE will live the moment. WE will remain and always be positive. My sister and I made a pact when I was diagnosed to stick together, walk side-by-side and beat this disease.
Christina Ummel - Walk MS Manhattan participant
My mom was diagnosed with MS in 2000 and I was diagnosed in 2001. I walk because I can still walk! And, in hopes that someday my daughters won't have to deal with having MS.
Delma Hays - Walk MS Kansas City participant
I walk because MS has been a companion in my life for as long as I can remember. My dad was diagnosed with MS at an early age. He passed away at the age of 42 from complications of what is now known as progressive MS. I have a young cousin with MS, and a girl I grew up with also has MS. I have been very fortunate. I was diagnosed in April 2000 at the age of 40, however, I thought I had it much longer. Please help us find a cure for future generations. I dream of a world without MS. Will you help us DREAM?
Steve Carrigan - Walk MS Omaha participant
I was diagnosed in July of '06. At that time, injections were the only medication available to me. Now I am about to start taking a pill, Gilenya. Who knows what will happen in the next 5-10 years in MS research. I support MS research and the MS society.
Shannon Smith - Walk MS Kansas City participant
I walk to support and inspire hope. I have had MS for 6 years (I am 24) and am still learning how to live my life with it. I do my best to live a healthy, positive life and let the MS effect me only as much as it has to. Some days I struggle to maintain a positive outlook, especially when I have to think about the fact that there is only one drug on the market that I can take. Bonus, it doesn't seem to work for me especially well, and I am on long term IV steroids to hold a steady baseline until new meds hit the market. On these days, I wonder what my long term outcome will be. My diagnosis has helped me learn to grab life by the horns and not put things off. I don't want to look back and think "I wish I would have, especially when I could have". I also remember there is hope, always hope. Hope, self determination, motivation and power of will, will carry me a long way. So I walk to remember, inspire and encourage hope. Hope for me and everyone else.
Chelsea Bolyard - Walk MS Wichita participant
I walk in support of my mother, I remember the day she told me she had MS and I literally fell to the floor and started crying in the middle of her driveway. Every person with MS needs support and deserves it too. Its hard to watch my mom go through this struggle alone, and I'm here to support her and help her in anyway I can. I love my mom and I hate to see her go through this, and my thoughts and prayers go out to every individual person who has MS, who knows someone with MS or will get MS one day. Keep strong, you can make it through this.
Jill Heese - Walk MS Lincoln participant
I walk because I'm selfish. Yep, I said it. I will never forget the day I was diagnosed - August 8, 2005. How terrified my mom was as she sat with me at my neurologist's office, waiting for the diagnosis we knew was finally going to come after eight months of tests. She was terrified because she was a nurse, and she knew the challenges I would face. The wonderful label of a preexisting condition that would float over my head for the rest of my life. The years of shots that made me feel like I had the flu every other day - shots that were my only way to slow down this disease, but came with such terrible side effects that I stopped taking them years ago. I walk because I'm selfish, and I want to be able to one day say, "I had MS," instead of, "I have MS."
Debbie Schneider - Walk MS Wichita participant
I was diagnosed with M.S in 1993. I had only been married for one year and just had my son when I started having numbness in different parts of my body. I have done the walk for many years, and I love to be able to help out in any way I can to help find a cure for MS. My moto has always been I have MS it doesn't have me. Thank you to everyone that puts this walk together and to all that raise money for MS research. God bless each of you.
Deloris Reed - Walk MS Johnson County participant
I walk for my sister-in-law who is also my closest friend. I walk for her because I see her struggle with all the fights of the symptoms of having MS while also being of a mother of two small children, wife and the financial burden it has caused them. I would love to take this away from her, but I can't so I will give the strength I have, and walk and support along with family. We love you!
Jody Stice - Walk MS Omaha participant
It was 1999, I had just turned 23. After graduating from college and participating in collegate athletics at an international level, when my legs went numb on a run, I first guessed it was a pinched nerve. Much to my dismay (so I thought) and after seeing a neurologist in Nebraska and one at the Mayo Clinic, they were in agreement that this was MS. I started on a once-a-day therapy right away to get as much benefit as possible in controlling symptoms and relapses. My children and husband are very supportive and helpful. We look forward to the future as a team. Not everyday is going to be a "walk in the park". However with a great support network and attitude, many more things can be accomplished. Focusing on the positive, what I CAN do...rather than the negative, what I can't do...helps me get through every challenge. Technology and medicine has come along way, we should embrace it and use it to our advantage. I may walk a little slower, I just tell my kids it is to "make them SLOW DOWN instead of RUSHING through life!"
Michelle Raney - Walk MS Wichita participant
In March of 2011, I lost most of the use of my left leg. I was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor and underwent surgery to remove the "tumor". A little less than a month later, reports came back from the Mayo Clinic stating that this was not a cancerous tumor that they removed afterall, and they weren't positive what it was. I was later diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis by my neurologist. This past year has been a very frustrating journey at times, but my family has been awesome. My daughter and cousin found out about Walk MS in Wichita and decided to start up a team. We are all new this but we are all excited and ready to go!!!
Christy Jones - Walk MS Kansas City participant
I was an event planner for the MS Society in Springfield, MO for the area of Bolivar, MO for about four years, and I loved it, and we raised tons of money for a cure for MS. My ex-husband has had MS for 13 years. He was diagnosed two weeks before we got married in 1998. I saw him struggle and it never got better. It got worse year after year. MS took his strength and life from him. He decided that I need more in life than this. I struggled with that decision because I loved him. He is a great man and father. I still to this day help him as much as I can. I am now re-married, but we are all very close to him. He has been in a wheelchair for the last 8 years. It hurt and breaks my heart to see him like that, but he is strong. He looks at life as gift not as a burden. This is why we walk - to find a cure for MS and for him.
Joyce Braudaway - Walk MS Joplin participant
I have been diagnosed with MS for many years. I find myself asking God why, but I must say that God tries to make everything a blessing. When I was first diagnosed, everything was going crazy so I gave up a job I dearly loved. I quickly got better and was able to help my husband with his business of delivering newspapers. Our son called one day and his first words were "How is the MS". I thought it was surely bad news. At that time the MS was just MS, so I asked what was wrong. His next words were "How do you feel about being a Grandma?” I was extremely shocked! A few months later, when my granddaughter came to live with us, she was a God-send. She is now 7 and lives with us and we adore this blessing. She goes on newspaper routes with me and is a great source of joy, not only to me, but to our customers. She once told me she was going to be a neurologist so she could find a cure for MS. I was shocked at the time since she was only 5. I wondered how many kids even know what a neurologist is. She has walked with me every year, since when I had to push her in stroller. And now she is at the end handing out medals. This is why I walk.