10 msfocusmagazine.org MSFocus Activities National MS Educational and Awareness Month® National MS Educational and Awareness Month® Campaign Celebrates 15th Year. Campaign Celebrates 15th Year. Running a national awareness campaign takes a great deal of effort from a great many people. Staff members, volunteers, speakers, ambassadors, and support group leaders are all involved. Materials must be distributed, travel must be arranged, and events must be planned. So it’s probablynot surprising thatwe affectionately refer to National MS Education and Awareness Month (NMSEAM) as “March Madness.” Stella Stand-off This year’s campaign provided more excitement than usual thanks to winter storm Stella. The late season storm loomed as staff members and our speaker prepared to travel to a regional program at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. The nor’easter was due to strike shortly after the end of the program. Would flights be cancelled? Would attendees brave the rapidlyfalling temperatures to come? Unfortunately, the weather affected the ability of our speaker to fly in for the event. “We considered canceling,” said Educational Program Coordinator Debra Forman, “but people in Baltimore were still calling to reserve their seats, right up to the day of the event. Our staff members said if one person was going to come, theywanted to be there – even knowing there was a possibility their return flights might be canceled.” The event went on, with speaking duties handled by local Ambassador Monica Proctor and the MS Focus staff. “It was really a wonderful experience,” said Support Groups Coordinator Kathryn Bradbury. “One of the attendees was newly- diagnosed, and their whole family came to the event together. They really appreciated the opportunity to learn about what we do and what their loved one goes through. That made it all worth it.”