Grip it & Rip it!

Shortly after I was diagnosed with MS, my wife Janet came across an event that the National MS Society, MI chapter holds each May called The Longest Day of Golf. She thought I should sign up.

Well, since I was newly diagnosed with this MS thing and I REALLY loved to golf, I thought I would give it a try. So I signed up for this event in 2004. All I had to do was raise $150 and I could golf from dawn to dusk at one of the participating golf courses.

This event sparked me to fundraise for MS more than I thought I would. I learned that it really isn't hard to ask people for money for a good cause. Just share with them the reason and benefits their money will provide people in need. I learned that most people are willing to donate to a cause but they are busy and this makes them forgetful. Understandably, they just aren't sitting around thinking about the donation request you sent them 2 months ago. You just need to remind them your deadline is fast approaching and this typically gets them focused enough to write the check or donate on the website for your cause.

Based on Janet's suggestions, in May of 2004, for the first time, I golfed in the Longest Day of Golf event with three of my closest friends and by mid-June I had collected over $3000.

This one event sparked me to join the LDG committee and become an even bigger advocate for the fight against MS.
I decided to help people with MS by playing a sport I love that someday I may not be able to play due to my disease. This fear and concern for those who can no longer play has made me determined to raise as much as I can to help eliminate MS from our world.

Over the years I have continued to participate in the LDG event with my team "Grip it & Rip it" and I have raised over $50,000. I hope this has sparked you to find more ways to Fight MS.