May 11, 2009
Every step matters
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Exactly 117 steps lead to the cottage that Mary Lynn McGinley and her husband, Dennis, rent every year in Wisconsin. Mary Lynn is grateful she can still complete all those steps. While it may not pose a challenge to most people, to those living with MS, 117 steps can be an extraordinary feat.
Mary Lynn was diagnosed with MS in 1998, after experiencing a bout of optic neuritis. Shortly after her diagnosis, she picked up an MS Society brochure from her neurologist’s office and soon became connected with a self-help group in her area — the St Paul Care to Share group. Today, Mary Lynn serves as a co-facilitator of the group.
Mary Lynn believes self-help groups and other MS Society programs provide a valuable opportunity to connect people with MS to others who understand the challenges of the disease — people who understand just how daunting 117 steps can be.
That’s why the McGinleys make gifts to the National MS Society, Minnesota Chapter whenever they can — to help drive research for a cure and fund programs that connect people with MS to those who understand the day-to-day challenges.
Mary Lynn and Dennis are members of the Minnesota Chapter’s Discovery Circle, a special group of donors who help lead the way in funding programs, services and research with their annual outright gifts of $250 or more. To Mary Lynn, making small gifts here and there to the MS Society is a lot like walking up the steps to her cottage: it may not seem like a lot, but every contribution, no matter how small, can amount to big progress for the MS movement.
“We get more out of the MS Society than what we put in,” Mary Lynn said. “I wish we could give more.”
To learn more about joining the Discovery Circle, contact Rachel Hughes at 612-335-7965 or rhughes@MSsociety.org.