14 msfocusmagazine.org MS Focus Activities Thanks to our 2017 sponsors: How do you spread MS awareness in your community? Mary Pettigrew: My partner and I collaborate with other people and groups as an alliance. We connect via group chats or video chats to brainstorm and share our projects. We all help promote and support each other. No leaders or egos involved: an alliance for all. We celebrate accomplishments of others and get involved in DIY awareness or events via MS organizations. Jason Becker: Most people I know already know of my illness, but if anyone ever asks me questions about it, I will answer their questions to the best of my ability and share what I have gone through. Amy Sites Bynum: I would attend my daughter’s class at school on MS Awareness Day. I would discuss the symptoms and have stations with mock MS symptoms for them to try, like walking with a swim fin on. This was fun for them and it also made it easier for my daughter when my symptoms are visible. The History of NMSEAM In the early 2000s, there was no specific month dedicated to awareness for multiple sclerosis. Some organizations held awareness campaigns for a day or a week at different times during the year, but none of these had widespread recognition throughout the country. MS Focus proclaimed the first National MS Education and Awareness Month, March of 2003. The campaign began with outreach to governors of all fifty states, many of whom officially recognized the month on behalf of their state. It also involved grassroots outreach, inviting the readers of this magazine to order kits filled with materials that would help them educate themselves and raise the awareness of others. That first year, 2,000 individuals requested kits. The effort was embraced by the MS community and our fellow MS organizations. After fifteen years, the campaign continues to expand. In 2017, 20,000 kits were distributed! And attendees of regional programs and national webinars, features of the campaign since the beginning, continue to grow in number each year.