MBJH students raise $11,000

Last month, a group of 98 eighth graders at Mountain Brook Junior High came together to raise $11,000 for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). 

Twelve teams of boys and girls faced off at Mountain Brook High School in a kickball tournament to raise awareness and funds for the National MS Society, Alabama-Mississippi Chapter. The students hit their neighborhoods to raise money by holding bake sales, lemonade stands, raffles and letter writing campaigns.  

“It was amazing to see these kids come together on their own and decide to make a difference in this community,” said Ashley Powell, who has been diagnosed with MS since 2011. “I was overwhelmed when I saw all these great kids take a lot of time and responsibility on their own to start this new event.” 

The idea began in the early summer during a baseball dugout conversation among some of the eighth-grade players.  

“We were in the dugout talking between games about the fact we had been thinking about Liam’s mom because she had been diagnosed with MS,” said Hamp Sisson, who ultimately organized the event. “Our teammate, Ford Clegg, said that his mom had it, too. That made us start thinking that if two guys in our one dugout had moms with MS then a lot of kids our age probably have moms that suffer from it, too. So we decided then that we wanted to do something to help!”  

 To learn more about multiple sclerosis and the service programs the National MS Society offers, visit nationalMSsociety.org/alc.

-Submitted by National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Alabama-Mississippi Chapter