‘Giving Tuesday’ Donations to MS Society of Canada Being Matched

Donations to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada will double in value for this year’s Giving Tuesday on Nov. 30, meaning each donation will provide three times the support for Canadians with multiple sclerosis (MS) .

An anonymous donor will double match each donation made on Giving Tuesday, whose goal is to raise $50,000. Go here for more information on how to donate and help MS research.

“With your support on Giving Tuesday and moving forward, the ability to eradicate the impact of MS is right around the corner,” Pam Valentine, president and CEO of MS Society of Canada, said in a press release.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has generated uncertainty and anxiety in people worldwide, and particularly among those affected by MS. Donations to the society on Giving Tuesday — the world’s largest generosity movement, with 75 countries participating — help to diminish some of that uncertainty by allowing the organization to better support patients and their families, and fund research into treatments and symptom management.

Over the past 20 years, the MS Society of Canada has sponsored numerous research projects and is determined to continue advancing science that can lead to real-life benefits despite the pandemic.

“Canadian researchers are on the cusp of ground-breaking breakthroughs, which means we can’t let the impacts of COVID-19 impede the momentum of our research efforts,” Valentine added.

Canada has one of the highest rates of MS worldwide, reporting an average of 12 diagnoses each day. Kajal Rai, who lives in British Columbia and was diagnosed with MS in 2020, found help in understanding her disease through the society, and a community through its online MS support group. Rai is hopeful that the research supported by the MS Society means a better chance at a cure.

“A cure for MS would mean that I could have a life of normality and life of certainty. I’ll be able to go to sleep knowing that tomorrow is going to be just as great, if not better, than today,” Rai said. “Right now, I go to sleep in fear because I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”

This Giving Tuesday campaign is one of two MS Society donation matching initiatives set before the close of December; its end-of-year giving campaign has a $200,000 fund-raising goal.