MS Society celebrates 60 years in Michigan with month-long fundraiser

By Jennie Miller
C & G Staff Writer

SOUTHFIELD — The Michigan chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is offering all-you-can-golf outings for charitable folks the entire month of May at more than 40 golf courses across the state.

The 18th annual Longest Day of Golf is a benefit for the organization, which is celebrating 60 years of serving the state and those diagnosed with the incurable disease, as well as the families and loved ones who support them.

“There are currently 18,000 people in Michigan living with MS,” said Leslie Cota of the state’s chapter of the MS Society, which is headquartered in Southfield. “When an individual is diagnosed, the impact it really has is a reach of seven people when you consider friends and families.”

Nationally, that figure exceeds 40,000, and 2.5 million worldwide suffering from the disease. Michigan has one of the highest incident rates.

“Every hour in the United States, someone is diagnosed with MS,” Cota said. “Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, and twice as many women as men are diagnosed.”

There is no known cause of, and currently no cure for, the disease that interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body, and stops the body from moving.

“The society exists to make sure it doesn’t,” Cota said of MS. “We are really here to help people address the challenges of living with MS. It’s a very unpredictable and often disabling disease of the central nervous system. (People experience) numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. Each and every person is different.”

Those efforts are made through fundraising ventures such as the Longest Day of Golf, which offers golfers the chance to tackle as many holes as they desire at any of 40 golf courses any day of the month with a minimum donation of $125. Golfers can pledge the entire amount, or fundraise themselves.

The golf course operators involved have agreed to waive the greens fees for those donating to the MS Society.

“We have courses in Macomb, Sterling Heights, Farmington Hills, all the way up to Grand Rapids, Holly and Brighton,” said Kelli Zgieb, development coordinator for the local chapter of the MS Society. “The golf courses have all been incredibly helpful.”

Last year, 244 golfers participated in the Michigan event, resulting in donations of $299,000.

“This year, our goal is to raise $315,000,” Zgieb said, confident that even more golfers will turn out this year. “Not only do people like that it’s going toward a good cause, but they get to go out there and play as many holes as they want that day. There’s a huge selection of courses you can play on. It’s not one set course on one set day. It’s all up to the golfer when they want to go out. A lot of people go out there with a foursome, but it doesn’t have to be. You can go out and play by yourself.”

Interested golfers can visit the Web site www.nationalmssociety.org/mig to view the complete course listing and the dates that are still available. Of the 40 participating golf courses, seven are in Oakland County and three are in Macomb County. Call Zgieb at (248) 351-2190, ext. 214, to set up a tee time.

Donations are tax deductible, and all of the proceeds benefit the MS Society and its efforts to find a cure and support people who suffer from the disease, and their families.

“We provide information and direct services to clients,” Cota said. “If someone who has MS or a family member contacts our office, we will identify their needs and assist as much as possible. We also fund research to find a cure for MS.”

There are six modifying drugs that help to keep the disease in control, which has been made possible through research fundraising, Cota said.

The 2008 Longest Day of Golf is presented by Ford, and is the largest golfing fundraising event in Michigan.

For more information about the Longest Day of Golf, visit the Web site www.nationalmssociety.org/mig or call (248) 351-2190, ext. 214. For those with questions about the disease, or about the types of programs and services the MS Society provides, call toll-free, (800) FIGHTMS.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennie Miller at jmiller@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1108.