Adventure
racers have a unique opportunity to rais money for Multiple Sclerosis
and to race for free!
For every $100 each racer raises, $10 will be deducted from your
registration fee.
Simply ask friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. to help sponsor
you in the event.
Explain to them that you are doing a 12 hour adventure race (which
will usually lead to the conversation of what is adventure racing
– so you get to do some education about the sport)
Ask them to pledge to you a set amount that they
feel comfortable with. Fill out the pledge
sheet. If they choose to pay by check, ask them to
make the check out to GOALS ARA, the sponsoring organization. We
will be happy to send them a receipt for this tax-deductible donation.
Either mail in before the race, or bring your pledge
sheet and your collected monies with you to race registration
on May 15. We will then deduct the appropriate amounts from your
registration fee, and return it to you that day.
You and your team must pre-register for the race, and pay
the entry fee ahead of time. Any funds that should be returned to
you will be done so at the date of the race.
BASIC
FACTS ABOUT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
What
is Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the
central nervous system (the brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord).
It is thought to be an autoimmune disorder. This means the immune
system incorrectly attacks the person's healthy tissue. MS can
cause blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred
speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, problems with memory
and concentration, paralysis, and blindness. These problems may
be permanent, or they may come and go.
How
many people have MS?
Approximately 400,000 Americans acknowledge having MS, and every
week about 200 people are diagnosed. Worldwide, MS may affect
2.5 million individuals. Because the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) does not require U.S. physicians to report
new cases, and because symptoms can be completely invisible, the
numbers can only be estimated.
What causes these symptoms?
MS symptoms result when an inflammatory immune-system attack affects
myelin, the protective insulation surrounding nerve fibers of
the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Myelin
is destroyed and replaced by scars of hardened “sclerotic”
tissue. Some underlying nerve fibers are also permanently severed.
The damage appears in multiple places within the central nervous
system. Myelin is often compared to insulating material around
an electrical wire; loss of myelin interferes with the transmission
of nerve signals.
What is special about the National MS Society?
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society supports more MS research,
and serves more people with MS than any other MS organization
in the world. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is the only
MS organization in the U.S. that meets the standards of the major
agencies that rate not-for-profit groups in the United States.
How many people does the Society serve?
Through the Society’s fifty-state network of chapters, assistance
is provided to over a million people annually, including people
with MS, their family members, employers, and caregivers.
For
more information about Multiple Sclerosis visit: www.nmss.org
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society local chapter in the Philadelphia
area:
Greater Delaware Valley
1 Reed Street, Suite 200
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Phone: 215-271-1500
Fax: 215-271-6122
Email:
pae@nmss.org
Website:
http://www.pae.nmss.org
