Remembering Linda Chance: "Ribbon of Hope" Creator Has Passed Away
The MS community lost a great friend on August 28, 2008, when Linda Kay Chance — who found a beautiful way to express the realities of multiple sclerosis — succumbed to cancer at the age of 64.
Linda was the creator of the “Ribbon of Hope,” a ribbon made of prismatic material that glistened in multiple colors and shapes.
The message: MS changes people in unexpected ways. Later versions included a plastic lapel pin, a window sticker, a license plate holder and a car magnet.
Linda’s design became the unofficial symbol of the Women Against MS Luncheon (now called the Women on the Move Luncheon). Thousands of ribbons and pins were distributed in the early 2000’s in donation solicitations. The National MS Society recognized Linda with its Advancing MS Awareness Award at the National Conference in Miami in 2003.
Joyce Nelson, CEO of the National MS Society, said she treasures her Ribbon of Hope because of the graceful way it symbolizes the nature of MS — and the people who live with it.
“The pin sparkled. Linda sparkled. And, time and again, that’s what I’ve discovered during my years with the Society: an effervescent spirit that belies the often serious symptoms of MS,” Joyce said after learning of Linda’s passing.
Linda, of Oklahoma City, had worked in advertising, real estate and for state government. She became an active volunteer with the Oklahoma Chapter soon after being diagnosed with MS in 1994. She joined the programs committee and helped to run a self-help group for nursing home residents who live with MS.
The idea for the ribbon came to Linda in 1999, when she saw a brochure showing the ribbons then being used by several health charities, such as red for AIDS and pink for breast cancer. She knew right away she wanted a prismatic effect to symbolize how MS affects people in different ways.
On the way home from the chapter that day, Linda stopped by a craft store and found some material that had the glistening effect she was after. She bought it, along with a glue gun and some other supplies, and made the first 1,000 ribbons at her kitchen table with the help of her care partner and a friend. The chapter began distributing them at Walk MS events, and the ribbon “went national” in 2003.
Linda later wrote of her design: “The changing colors of the ribbon signify that multiple sclerosis is an ever changing and unpredictable disease that may be seen in different lights in different ways, but is ever constant…. By wearing a ribbon you are signifying that you are aware of the disease and are a part of the awareness campaign.”
To read more of Linda's own recollections of how the Ribbon of Hope originated, visit FaceofMS.org and search for Linda's name.