MS AWARENESS WEEK
Georgian’s Make Your Mark Against MS! March 12-18, 2012
GO ORANGE! The goal of MS Awareness Week is to acknowledge people who are a part of the movement, invite new people to join the movement, and encourage everyone to get involved during MS Awareness Week by taking at least one action to demonstrate their commitment to a world free of MS.
What will you do? Get Inspired by some of these successful examples: • Wear Walk MS or Bike MS t-shirts, jerseys, buttons, pins and bandannas • Buy Society shirts (www.MSsocietyipp.org) • Just wear orange! Use Social Media and Email... • Send videos about MS. Browse the Society’s YouTube channel and send a new video to friends each day. The Society has many that are appropriate for raising awareness. Choose videos that are short and to the point. • Use Facebook to share facts about MS and invite people to participate in the MS Walk or Bike MS events. • Add an MS Awareness Week e-mail signature to your e-mails. • Send e-mail blasts to co-workers, friends, and family: let them know that you are their connection to MS, give some facts about MS, and ask them to pass it on. • Encourage everyone to change their profile picture to the Society’s logo during that week; ask friends and family to do the same. Get out in Your Community… • Ask your church, club, or organization to post literature and decorate in orange. • Call someone with multiple sclerosis to show that you care. • Write notes on MS stationary or note cards to doctors, legislators, businesses, clubs who have supported MS-related efforts. Don’t ask for anything, tell them you appreciate their support. • Hand write or sign your name if you can do so.
MS AWARENESS WEEK
• Use snail mail, not e-mail. You would be surprised how much a mailed note means to people. • Send or take to the CEO of a company or business owner information they can give to employees about MS. • Connect with restaurants, coffee shops and other retail businesses… • If the business serves food or drinks, ask them to use NMSS orange napkins during the week. Ask if they will serve a drink or food item that is orange. • Get permission to put flyers in local business windows to inform people about MS Awareness Week and events you have planned. Print on bright orange paper! • Visit an assisted living, hospital or nursing home where there are people with MS. Give the MS patients and staff MS related gifts, i.e. oranges, napkins, MS logo items and informational literature. Contact your legislators and local officials... • Visit your state legislators. During the legislative session, your representatives are often in their district offices in your community on Fridays. Call ahead and make an appointment! • Send letters to your community and state officials. • Arrange for your city council to present a proclamation declaring the week, MS Awareness Week (call your council person or the Mayor or City Secretary to arrange this) • Take several people with MS with you to receive the proclamation. Share your story... • Arrange for a group of people with MS to go out in public with their stories. • Make an appointment for a social visit with your doctor. Limit your visit to less than ten minutes. Take MS-related gift, literature and a personal thank you note. Don’t discuss medical problems at this time. • Visit schools and universities. • Arrange for a support group to invite friends, relatives, and others to a meeting. Hold the meeting during MS Awareness Week. Talk about MS, tell your story, give information about the disease and donating time or money. • You can tell a story about how MS affects you and one about how people can get involved. Let them know how helping, volunteering and donating to the cause can make a difference in people’s lives. Use the media... • Contact local media for interviews – newspaper, radio, TV. See if they will cover one of your events or write a story about you. • A letter to the editor is an easy way to share your story with the public and call for action. • Work with a local paper to use orange newsprint (similar to pink newsprint for Breast Cancer Awareness)
GO ORANGE!