04. Dunk MS

I attended my first ever MS fundraiser a few weeks ago, and it’s a funny story how I came across this event.  

One of my best friends, Felycia, who lives in NYC ended up chairing her law firm’s Walk MS event to support me and a family friend (she’s a lawyer too).  Felycia put me in contact with the chair of the National MS Society (NMSS) in Palm Beach, Florida because she happens to be a partner at Felycia’s law firm.  The chair of the NMSS in Palm Beach, Florida then put me in contact with the chair of the NMSS in Los Angeles, California.  I talked with her about my diagnosis, day-to-day life with MS, and my goals.  Based off of our conversation, she thought it would be a good fit if I joined the Emerging Leaders Board (ELB) in Los Angeles, which is a subset of the Los Angeles chapter of the NMSS.  The ELB is made up of people like me—people in their 20s or 30s who either have MS with limited symptoms that don’t regularly affect their everyday lives and activities, or are directly related to someone with MS, and seek to find a cure for MS.

I was then introduced to the ELB and spoke with the Senior Manager and Chair of the ELB.  They let me know that one of their board members plans an annual Dunk MS fundraiser in honor of his late mother, and he was hosting a kick-off event at a lounge in Santa Monica, California in mid-April.  Coincidentally, the board member is best friends with the brother of one of my best friends, Kelsey.  Kelsey separately invited me to go to the event with her, as well.  (It’s seriously a small world.)  So, I decided to go to my first ever MS fundraiser since being diagnosed.  My sister, boyfriend, close friends from near and far, and colleagues ended up coming with me to the event to support not only me, but also support the conducting of new and groundbreaking MS research to hopefully find a cure for MS.  

I really enjoyed attending the event.  I got to support a great cause that directly affects me.  I also ran into one of my doctors at it and surprisingly, won a raffle item.  And, it was a really nice feeling to see so many of the people that are so important to me support me by coming to this event.

Since attending this event, I have officially joined the ELB, and I went to my first meeting two weeks ago.  I now am in full swing and helping plan the ELB’s main event for the year—The Summer Soiree, which will be held on August 15, 2019 at Academy LA.  The Summer Soiree is a cocktail and silent auction event that raises money for the NMSS; there will be food, drinks, entertainment, music, dancing and a silent auction featuring a ton of in-demand prizes and experiences.  For those interested, I will post more details about the event and a link to buy tickets a little closer to the date!