Jun 30, 2009
Delaware's premier cycling event needs your help!
Carla Koss
The premier cycling event in the First State attracts more than 1,600 riders, who come from all walks of life, practicing all spring and summer to cycle a 17-, 45-, 75-, 100-, or 150-mile route from Dover to Rehoboth and back over two days in October, and all to raise money and awareness of the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis. And they need your help to do it.
The Delaware Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society needs volunteers to help organize and run the 2009 Bike MS: NRG Energy Indian River Power Plant Bike to the Bay in association with Bank of America. Taking place on October 3–4 this year, the annual event attracts more than 1,600 cyclists who ride across Kent and Sussex counties over two days. To ensure a safe and enjoyable event, the entire course needs to be monitored by support-and-gear vehicles and bike mechanics, and rest stops are set up every 10 to 12 miles and stocked with beverages, fruit, and high-energy bars. To make this happen, more than 200 volunteers are needed.
“Volunteers are the backbone of all our events,” notes the chapter’s president, Kate Cowperthwait. “To raise the funds we need to support Delawareans with MS and their families, people need to support our effort by volunteering at our events.
“Right now, we need about 200 volunteers for Bike to the Bay,” continues Cowperthwait, who rides every year with her team, 50 Exquisite Women. “We need help registering cyclists, setting up rest stops and manning them throughout the ride weekend, monitoring the route, cleaning up, and cheering the cyclists across the finish line.”
“We also need people to help us hand out rider numbers and T-shirts,” adds the chapter’s volunteer coordinator, Jenna Wagner, “to load and unload the equipment truck, hand out goodies to the cyclists, prepare and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, distribute information packets, direct traffic, and provide logistical and clerical support at every step of the way.”
“There is a need for everyone’s skills and talents,” emphasizes Cowperthwait. “Just call us, and tell us how you would like to help. Not only will you have my everlasting gratitude, but you will also sleep sound at night knowing that you have done something to help move us closer to a world free of MS.”
To volunteer for Bike to the Bay, contact the volunteer coordinator, Jenna Wagner, at (302) 655-5610. Or email jenna.wagner@MSdelaware.org.
About multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often-disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS.
Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50 with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and more than 1,500 Delawareans.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving; the National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2007 alone, through our home office and 50-state network of chapters, we devoted more than $136 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested more than $50 million to support 440 research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS—NOW.
Join the movement at www.nationalMSsociety.org.
Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about the options by talking to a health-care professional and then contacting the National MS Society at nationalMSsociety.org or at 800-FIGHT-MS (800-344-4867).
In Delaware, call (302) 655-5610. Or visit www.MSdelaware.org.