Happy MS Awareness Week!

MS Awareness Week is finally here! Lets do our best to push for awareness and utilize this awareness to keep working towards our goal of raising $10,000 for the Walk MS: Twin Cities Walk 2010! Today is not only the beginning of MS Awareness Week, but also the start of the second official Walk MS Team Week. In the first Walk MS Team Week this year CraniuMS worked up a sweat to rise to the challenges. We recruited 18 team members that week and started out strong raising $1000! With the formulation of our team we are now at 26 members and $6325.11. This is an amazing accomplishment for a small group of people who are only on their second year participating in the MS Walk who set out with a common interest because we are all connected to MS somehow.

The National MS Society has some fun contests and prizes in store for us this week!

Team Contests:

• Today's contest: The first team to double in size (throughout the week) wins four free tickets to a St. Paul Saints game.
• Week long contest: The team with the greatest percentage increase in team size wins a team tent or team reception area on event day, May 2

Individual Contests:

• Today's contest: Raise $25 online today and you'll be entered into a drawing to win an MS Society Hooded Sweatshirt
• Week long contest: Raise $50 or more online between now and noon this Friday and you win a free bowl of noodles, soup or salad at Noodles & Company (coupons limited)!

Keep following us all week long for all the chances you have to win! Sponsor a member of CraniuMS today to help us win as we work hard to reach our goal and raise awareness for MS! Want to join CraniuMS? Remember, if you are unable to attend the actual walk event on May 2nd you can still be a big part of our team and help us raise money. All new team members will receive an orange silicone MS Movement bracelet! Email Heatherheuer@gmail.com if you have any questions how you can join the movement and either join our team or sponsor one of our amazing members!

On a separate note, CraniuMS has yet again proven that any act, big or small, can make a difference in our campaign which in turn ultimately makes a huge difference in the lives of those affected with MS. When I started our blog i had intentions of keeping the team updated on what is going on, ways to fundraise and encourage our members to keep pushing towards our goal. As an overwhelming show of support came in from all of our individual sponsors, it slowly evolved into a way to keep everyone updated on our progress and a way to create awareness for MS and show the reasoning behind all of this. What makes CraniuMS special is that we're new at this and we're finding our way the best we know how, much like someone who has been newly diagnosed with MS or the support network surrounding them. CraniuMS is really a network of friends and family spread throughout the Midwest, with the majority of our team residing in Michigan. Over half of our members come from a small town in Michigan of not even 1,000 residents. Growing up in this small town the involvement of community was a huge part of what formed us as adults, and a major part of what has made CraniuMS successful thus far. We are a community of MS supporters who have learned along the way that we can all make a difference, and that no matter what we do, big or small, it helps paint a bigger picture. CraniuMS helps take care of their own and everyone else who is in the fight against MS!

I am proud to say that through one small action of copying our blog address to the bottom of my email, it has been published in the National MS Society newsletter that goes out if you are a subscriber via email. Just this one action and our blog fell into the hands of Kris Van Osnabrugge, who is part of the staff for the National MS Society! Thank you Kris for supporting us and helping us spread the word about our blog and CraniuMS and the amazing MS Walk event!

We have an exciting week ahead of us and i don't want to spoil all the surprises today! Check back in tomorrow to see what other contests the National MS Society has in store for us as well as some contests that CraniuMS has put together! As someone who has been deeply affected by MS, my heart and soul goes out with an abundance of thanks for all who support us. We woke up today with a pep in our step over the excitement of it being MS Awareness week. It all circles back to what this all means beyond the monetary value, and that is the control it gives us in feeling like we have the power to do all we can to fight this and wake up each day with hope in our hearts and friends in our arms.

Thank you CraniuMS, our supporters, and Kris for making my day! I already can't wait for tomorrow!

"Captain Crunch"