In our continuing series featuring prominent MS organizations around the world, we travel north to Canada.
Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada is the only volunteer health organization in Canada which funds MS research and provides services to people living with MS. It was founded in 1948 shortly after Sylvia Lawry founded the organizations which later become the US National MS Society. The MS Society of Canada is organized in seven regional divisions with nearly 120 chapters; the national office is located in Toronto, Ontario.
Client Services
The MS Society provides information and support to persons affected by multiple sclerosis, health professionals, employers, institutions and students. Based upon needs and available resources, the Society provides: information and referral; supportive counseling; support and self-help groups; recreation and social programs; financial assistance; education; and help in advocating for yourself.
Our goal in Client Services is: "To provide programs and services to those affected by multiple sclerosis to achieve the highest possible quality of life while living with the daily challenges that MS presents." Visit In Your Community to find your local MS Society chapter or division office.
In addition to providing educational programs and services directly to patients living with MS, the MS Society of Canada has several awareness and fundraising campaigns going on right now and year-round.
May is MS Awareness Month
The MS Society of Canada marks the month of May as MS Awareness Month. Across the country, the society's aim is to "increase awareness about multiple sclerosis, inform the public about the MS Society's services and mission, and to engage new and existing supporters in their efforts to end MS."
Joining the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF), the Society supports and will help promote the 2nd Annual World MS Day on Wednesday, May 26, 2010. The objectives of the World MS Day are to "raise awareness and to unite, broaden and mobilize the global MS movement."
MS Carnation Campaign and Mother's Day
Just in time for Mother's Day, the MS Society will host the 34th annual MS Carnation Campaign. From May 6th to May 8th, 2010, volunteers in more than 280 communities across Canada "will be showing their dedication to finding a cure by selling carnations on street corners, mall and other public spaces." The carnation, the official symbol of Mother's Day, was chosen by the MS Society as a symbol of hope in the quest to end multiple sclerosis.
The endMS Capital Campaign
Launched in 2008, the endMS campaign is raising $60 million to recruit, train, support, and retain the next generation of MS researchers in Canada. The goal of this effort is to accelerate discovery in the field of MS to end MS in the shortest possible timeframe.
