Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The MS150

I just wanted to tell you all to check out Matt's MS 150 blog. (The link "Matt's MS150 blog" is to the right)

For those of you who don't know, Matt's mom Valorie has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She's had it for about 20 years and as long as I've known her, she's been sick with severe symptoms of this devastating disease. It's a very helpless feeling to be around her. It almost seems like every time we see her, she has a new symptom and her health has declined in some way.

Matt wants to do something to help so he does the MS150, a 2-day, 150 mile bike ride sponsored by the MS Society. It's the coolest event I've ever been a part of. There are easily over 3,000 riders and they are all there for the same reason. Some people ride by themselves, while others form teams with people they know and/or work with. Matt rides with one of the largest teams in the nation called the Feisty Devils and their motto is "Ride Like Hell to Fight MS."

In the 2 years he's ridden, he's raised over $5700 that has been put toward finding a cure for MS. Matt rides for his mom every year and the support he receives from friends and family is amazing. The first year (2003) he participated, we were just hoping to raise the minimum $300 donation. He ended up raising over $2500 and was the 17th best fundraiser (out of 2500 riders) in the entire ride! The following year he was asked to make a speech about his mom at the pre-ride pasta dinner and it touched people we didn't even know! Once again he raised almost $3000 and rode in 40 degree weather with rain coming down sideways!! This year we're hoping to raise even more money (and hoping for sunny weather too!!) If you'd like to donate to the MS Society, there's a link on Matt's blog and you can donate specifically to his fundraising efforts.

We've said this to a lot of people and I'll say it again. I know many of you have something you already donate to and we respect that. I just wanted to share with you all what my fabulous husband is doing for his mom and others with MS. If nothing else, just check out his blog...just because!! Go Feisty Devils!

2 comments:

Maurine said...

Hey, I just found your blog! I'll be reading... how else could I find out such interesting information like your love for Justin Timberlake? :)

Julia said...

Thats so awesome that Matt (aka Buster - still so hard for me to think of him as Matt!) is doing the MS150 for his mom. I didn't know she has MS. My mom actually rode in the MS150 a few years back & said it was an incredible experience. I'm definitely impressed with anyone who can do that thing! Thanks for checking in on my site - we are now in Keller, so we didn't move far, but its still taking forever to get settled. Its good to "chat" with you!