This Is Why I Give
After his wife, Nina, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, Jim Roach decided to become an MS activist, devoting himself to raising both funds and awareness for this disease. “When my wife was diagnosed I was introduced to hundreds of incredible people struggling with this illness on a daily basis. As I got to know them, I learned about how they each cope with this disease and it inspired me. How can you not be inspired to help?”
One of the ways Jim has helped support the MS cause and the work of the National MS Society is by establishing a unique Walk MS team in honor of Nina, the Team Red Tiger Tae Kwon Do. Jim and Nina’s daughters’ love of Tae Kwon Do started at the age of four. Today, Shannon holds a 3rd degree black belt and the title of 2004 Jr. World Champion while Jeannine holds a 2nd degree black belt.
It was the tenets of Tae Kwon Do, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit, that first motivated the Roach family to form their own Walk MS team with his daughters’ instructor Marcello Cancelliere in 2001. Since its inception, Jim and Marcello’s Walk MS team has brought in over 2,400 walkers and contributed more than $175,000 to the Society’s Greater Delaware Valley Chapter, earning them the title of top Walk MS team, which led to their induction into the chapter’s Hall of Fame.