Avon, Colo. – July 23, 2015 – Can Do Multiple Sclerosis, an innovative provider of lifestyle empowerment programs for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), launched an online campaign today that encourages people with MS, as well as their friends and supporters to take on an activity, attitude or personal mission that they believe they can do. This annual initiative is part of Can Do Day, a campaign that raises awareness for MS and honors Can Do MS’s founder and Olympic medalist skier, Jimmie Heuga, on his birthday, September 22.
“Always seizing a new challenge, my father faced each day with the can do spirit,” said Blaze Heuga, son of Can Do MS Founder Jimmie Heuga. “He lived by the mantra that no matter the path laid out before you, you can climb to the top of the mountain.”
Campaign participants can visit Can Do MS’s interactive photo pledge wall and post a photo pledge committing to take on a goal that they know they can do. Goals can vary from taking an athletic activity to new heights or simply hanging out with friends. Once a photo pledge is posted, participants are encouraged to share their photo on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #CanDoDay to gain votes for their pledge and inspire others to participate.
On Can Do Day, September 22, 2015, the person with the most votes for their photo pledge will win a $50 gift certificate from Trek Light Gear, an Olympic ski poster autographed by Jimmie Heuga, Billy Kidd and Pepi Stiegler, and a Can Do MS apparel fleece vest, messenger bag and water bottle. If a participant’s photo pledge receives at least 300 votes, he or she will also be entered to win a Mountainsmith Approach backpack.
Jimmie Heuga, a pioneer in the MS care management field was diagnosed with MS in 1970. At the time of his diagnosis, Heuga was advised to avoid physical activity to preserve his health. As a high-caliber athlete, he rebelled against his prescribed sedentary lifestyle and began developing his own program of exercise, which caused his condition to improve. He not only realized the power of exercise, nutrition, positive thinking and movement to enhance his life with MS, but more importantly, he also found that by focusing on what he could do rather than what he could not, he was able to go beyond perceived limitations to live his best life with MS.
MS is a chronic neurological disorder that affects the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
Get involved today by sharing your Can Do Day photo pledge on Can Do MS’s website or Facebook page at www.mscando.org/candoday. Can Do Day is supported by Biogen and Teva Neuroscience.
A national nonprofit organization based in Avon, Colo., Can Do MS is an innovative provider of lifestyle empowerment programs that empower people with MS and their support partners to transform and improve their quality of life. For more information, visit the organization’s website at www.mscando.org .
