Raising awareness, educating the public, and sharing resources is top priority during MS Awareness Week. MS Activists, the medical community, and patients are all rallying together to host events, coordinate outfits, and connect with one another. Whether it’s online or in their hometown, families and friends of the MS Community are finding ways to raise awareness and have fun while doing so. If you are interested in getting involved or have a few ideas regarding your own awareness events, these tips will help get you started.
Wear Orange!
Orange ribbons are used throughout the United States to represent and recognize the diseases that have yet to find a cure. During this month, the MS community is using orange to recognize the efforts of the medical community as they work towards a cure. Raising awareness and educating the public in regard to the many symptoms that can go undiagnosed for months can start with an outfit.
Many symptoms of MS mirror the symptoms of other diseases, making MS difficult to diagnose. If you want to raise MS Awareness, you can plan a ‘Wear Orange for MS Day’ at your school, workplace, or even a public outing with friends or family. Encourage them all to wear orange on the same day in order to generate conversation, and if you want to raise donations, you can work directly with your school administration or employer’s HR department in order to organize an official event.
Spread the Word!
One of the easiest ways to raise MS Awareness is to spread the word across social media. Replacing profile photos with orange ribbons and posting pictures and articles related to MS can help friends and family understand the disease and how important it is to find a cure. The National MS Society in particular provides great links to share on Facebook that will connect people all over the world with local events focused on raising awareness and finding a cure.
When you make these posts, be sure to use specific hashtags that will connect these posts to those being made by others. The more times a hashtag is used, the more likely it is to appear on public feeds and online searches, increasing the likelihood that it will be seen by everyone. #MSAwareness and #MSConnection are very popular ways to refer to MS Awareness Week, but you can also call out specific events – like ‘#BikeMS’ – in order to increase awareness and attendance simultaneously.
Volunteer!
If hashtagging MS Awareness Week events is not enough, you can always register as a volunteer or participate in any of the events directly. WalkMS and BikeMS are two marathon-like events that happen all over the world, giving patients and supporters alike the opportunity to actively participate in the MS community.
Depending on how you want to become involved, you can register as an individual, as a team, or as a volunteer and work directly with the MS community in your hometown. You can even become an MS Activist. As an Activist, you will have the opportunity to organize your own events, talk directly with other Activists, and work towards raising awareness all year long.
How are you celebrating MS Awareness Week?
Raising MS Awareness is about creating a sense of community between MS patients and all of those looking to help. Whether you wear an orange dress, accentuate your business suit with an orange tie, or walk a mile during any of the local Walk/Bike MS events, you will be raising awareness about MS.
When you visit with friends this week, bring up MS Awareness and ask what they are doing to participate. Simply having a conversation like this can inspire others to donate, get involved, or even discover a cure! Never underestimate the power one person has when it comes to influencing an entire community.