Junior High students ‘kick’ multiple sclerosis with creative fundraiser
On the bench between games of a double-header last summer, eighth grade boys on Mountain Brook Junior High’s baseball team had an idea.
They were discussing how teammates Liam Powell and Ford Clegg both had mothers with multiple sclerosis (MS), an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts information flow to and from the brain. The boys decided to do something.
Kickball, they realized, was the perfect activity to get other MBJH students involved in the fight against MS, which affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide.
“Kickball is a great equalizer because you don’t have to be a great athlete to play it,” said Leigh Ann Sisson, whose son, Hamp, helped organize the event last year. “The boys wanted to do something that anyone in their grade could participate in, and they wanted to promote community within their grade.”
Last summer, 98 eighth graders from MBJH on 12 co-ed teams raised more than $11,000 for people living with MS through individual fundraising efforts such as car washes and donut sales leading up to the kickball tournament.
“That’s not what we were expecting at all,” said Hamp Sisson. “Everyone had a lot of fun, and each team did something different.”
This year, both eighth and ninth grade students are invited to participate in Kickball for MS, which is almost completely run by students. As of the signup deadline on June 15, the number of participants had already more than doubled from 98 students on 12 teams to 208 students on 26 teams.
“I first got involved when Hamp invited me to do [the tournament] with this year’s rising eighth graders,” said Paul Tyson, the event’s eighth grade coordinator. “A lot of my friends’ parents are affected, and we’re raising money to help fund research to find a cure.”
A new case of MS is diagnosed every hour, and there is no known cause or cure.
“Unfortunately, MS is growing and now children are starting to be affected,” said Ashley Powell, who has been diagnosed with MS since 2011. “It’s also becoming more and more understood to be genetically linked, so for my kids and for future generations, it’s really great to see this generation of kids do something to fight MS.”
This year’s tournament will take place on Sunday, Aug. 10 at MBHS. Games start at 1 p.m. and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Alabama-Mississippi chapter will provide cookies, lemonade and barbecue.
The MS Society will also host the MS experience tent where participants can have a hands-on experience of how it feels to live with MS.
“Part of our goal is to help explain what MS is,” said Jan Bell, president of the Alabama-Mississippi chapter of the MS Society. “Even when people with MS try to describe vertigo, dizziness, balance issues, cognition issues or numbness in their fingers – all of which are symptoms of MS – people don’t understand why it’s a big deal.”
Money raised through the event will support the MS Society’s goals of research, advocacy and service.
“Our mission is to create a world free of MS, and we really focus on addressing the challenges of each person affected by MS,” said Bell.
Community members are invited to attend to learn about MS as well as to support the teams as they raise money for MS research.
To learn more about multiple sclerosis and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, visit nationalmssociety.org or contact the local chapter of the society at 879-8881.