wheelchair friendly Gettysburg MS Walk 2011

Wheelchair accessible is subjective. Wheelchair friendly – now, that is embraceable.

MS Walks (Walk MS) are the signature fundraising events for National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the US.

Unfortunately the word ‘walk’ and Multiple Sclerosis do not exactly associate. As a MS spouse caregiver of 21 years understanding marketing gurus is beyond my credentials. On the other hand appreciating the success of that fundraising is hard to deny. The millions and millions and millions of dollars raised benefits both research and those living with MS. Our wheelchair accessible van benefits from the financial assistance program National MS Society.

Like all bigger issues it eventually boils down to a moment in time, a few hours one Sunday a year when living with MS is not the exception but the reason people gather together.

MS Walk 2011 Gettysburg

The Gettysburg MS Walk was certifiably wheelchair friendly!  No curb cuts, no cracked and uneven sidewalks, no significant incline or decline to terrain. More than just an awareness of accessibility but an ‘understanding’ defined the event, a casual and social 1 mile lap through the park. If you wanted more exercise go take as many laps as you want. Common sense is such a treat.

Wheelchair friendly may even be an understatement. Wheelchair welcoming might be better. “Abe” (Jim Getty) could have been just a photo op, but no he took the time to chat with Patti as Abe Lincoln. Everything from parking to registration through waiting for the Walk to start to snacks and socializing afterwards was personally so friendly and welcoming.

At the core of it all is Patti’s Pride a team of family and friends that rallies around Patti. Year after year whether beating fundraising goals or showing up to push and walk – they rock!

Improving on a formula for success goes too often unheralded. The Gettysburg MS Walk coordinators, committee and volunteers, IMHO, simply created a ‘better’ MS Walk model - they may have re-invented the MS Walk.

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

web site: caregivinglyyours.com 

videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer 

MS Walk and Roll - Gettysburg

There is fundraising and then there is FUNraising. For a couple hours, one Sunday a year it’s all about people living with Multiple Sclerosis.

Face-to-Face with other people living with MS and those who give a damn is even cooler than Facebook.

90 seconds of our last 5 years of National MS Society – Central Pennsylvania Chapter MS Walks kind of gives you the picture.

Of course, symptoms “R” MS and this year we are heading to the more wheelchair friendly Gettysburg MS Walk and Roll . 

It’s getting harder for Patti to sit upright in her wheelchair for any length of time and frankly less than fun to be jostled over cracked sidewalks, up and down curb cuts from hell, and frequently steep terrain.

MS symptoms of fatigue and incontinence also mean you have to maximize time. A mile loop over a paved walking path vs 4 miles, that’s as MS friendly as it gets.

Entertainment, snacks, re-enactors, and “Abe” well … that’s the FUNraising part of it all.

You are more than welcome to support and/or join our team, Patti’s Pride.   


Of course, Gettysburg is and will always be more than anyone person who ever walks or rolls there. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, later in April there will be a reenactment of Union and Confederate troops advancing into town, skirmishes, living history encampments, and an hour long cannonade of 150 cannon shots to salute the brave men and women who fought in the American Civil War. Invasion of Pennsylvania – Gettysburg

However, I realize this blog is read far and wide so for your convenience here are links to find similar events near you MS Walk (USA), MS Walk (Canada), MS Wheel and Walk (UK), MS Walk & Fun Run (Australia), God Bless the Irish! They have a “muddy marvelous” MS Muck n Splash, India, Iran and more … Raising MS awareness with art, food and sport 

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

web site: caregivinglyyours.com 

videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer 

download a free song and give

Downloading music can conjure up all kinds of things to different people, but sometimes – yes Virginia there is the next best thing to a Santa Claus – “The Sweetest Dream”.

Kai Croft and Steve Joyce, President and CEO of Choice Hotels, met last May at ServiceSource's day habilitation program in Annandale, Virginia and things started to happen.

Kai Croft is a “poetess”. ServiceSource provides employment and rehabilitation support services to individuals with disabilities. Choice Hotels Music is an initiative from Choice Hotels International that supports signature causes and artists.

Now for every copy of “Sweetest Dreams” downloaded for free, Choice Hotels will donate $1 to the ServiceSource Foundation, up to $10,000. … 100 percent of donations to the ServiceSource Foundation go in direct support of programs that enhance community integration and independence and provide valued employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

I have downloaded my free copy of ‘Sweetest Dream’ and being the suspicious type also scanned and double scanned for viruses and spyware and found nothing but enjoyment. Click Kai Croft’s “Sweetest Dream” to go to free download page.  

“Cause I feel like

My heart holds a million of the

sweetest dreams

And I want them to come true, I see the moon and only you, and

I hope you’re listening to my prayer

Someone bring you round

I see you there

And you become reality — in my sweetest dreams”

Kai Croft

Download a free song and someone else donates to a worthwhile non-profit -  does it get any better than that?

Actually, yes … for more of Kai's poetry, visit her blog at www.kaiswriting.blogspot.com

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

web site: caregivinglyyours.com 

videos: www.youtube.com/daddyleer 

thunder gods

With NASCAR paused in the North between Pocono and Watkins Glen, three of its top drivers Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Kasey Kahne took a break from the tracks of thunder to race sprint cars on a legendary local dirt track to raise money for a good cause.

"Any time Kasey has an event that we can make, we obviously want to make it," Stewart said. "When our schedule opened up, it was a no-brainer to come here."

The Kasey Kahne Foundation raises money to give back to chronically ill children and their families.  All of the proceeds from Thursday's “Battle at the Grove” went to the charity.

An outing to Williams Grove Speedway is something Patti has absolutely no interest in, especially since we can hear it on our patio 5 miles away. For whatever reasons as her visual impairment has worsened with Multiple Sclerosis her hearing has improved. A couple hours of trackside mega-decibels has absolutely no appeal.

Now I have attended a couple times and while loud is an understatement and the proximity to drivers, cars, track and racing is captivating it’s the dust that fascinates me. Walking through the parking lot after dirt track racing is like walking through a mutant winter wonderland. Car windshields need to be cleaned of dirt. Even your hair and clothing is coated with a layer of dirt.

Is noise and dirt an acquired taste or just clutching onto eternal childhood? After all wasn’t the dirtier you were an indication of how good a time you had.

Though if talking about feeling good … how great does Aaron Ott, who graduated high school only two months ago, feel after getting down in the dirt with three thunder gods and winning the “Battle of the Grove”?

Charitable fundraising not only demands creativity but becomes all the more important in rougher economic times. Kudos to NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, and Williams Grove Speedway.

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick Leer 

web site: http://caregivinglyyours.com/

videos: http://www.youtube.com/daddyleer 

musings: patrick ponders