When Mayor Ron Toyota met with three representatives of the fight against multiple sclerosis at town hall on May 3, the message was clear — MS is a disease that affects countless individuals and their families in our community.
Toyota posed for a photo, a Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada flag waving in the background, with two local residents who work tirelessly in the hope that the disease they carry will someday be cured.
“Every day, Canadians affected by MS struggle to obtain or keep the home care supports they need,” said Debbie Irwin, an MSSC development services co-ordinator. “The 1 Day in May campaign gives Canadians the opportunity to help people with MS improve their lives and create awareness about the need for increased access to home care.”
Irwin said that MSSC is seeing Canadians with MS, disabilities and other chronic illnesses falling between the cracks, many affected by recent program cuts to homecare services. Those reductions, she said, have a dramatic and negative impact on the lives of people living with MS. The society promotes the belief that people living with MS need sufficient supports to allow them to live at home with their families as long as possible.
“People need to know that they can make a difference in the life of a person affected with MS,” said Ken Chubb, a retired social worker who is a member of the Creston MS self-help group. “The 1 Day in May campaign is our effort to increase awareness about the daily lives of people with MS. By raising awareness of this unpredictable disease, we are letting people know they can affect change in the life of someone with MS.”
The Town of Creston supports the campaign by proclaiming May as MS Awareness Month and by flying the MS flag at Creston Town Hall throughout the month, Toyota said.
Irwin said there are many ways Creston residents can show their support for people with MS:
•send an email message to candidates running in the provincial election. An online tool to help do that can be found at mssociety.ca/bc;
•register at mssociety.ca for a MS Research webinar on May 15, 3-5 p.m. local time;
•read stories of people with MS posted on 1DayinMay.ca;
•contact the local MS self-help group to find out how to get involved locally;
•understand the issues affecting people with MS and their families;
•Read and share the latest issue of MS Canada on mssociety.ca;
•Tweet #1dayinMay about how you’re spreading awareness of MS;
•Join the Instagram photo challenge and post what #1dayinMay means to you; or
•Visit 1DayinMay.ca or contact your local MS Society to learn more about how you can take part in 1 Day in May actions.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and often disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord. It is the most common neurologic disease of young adults in Canada.