By MOLLIE BROWN / Community Columnist

Olivia Davis, her grandmother Charlotte DeFreese, her cousin Emily Allen, and friends Mollie and Abbie Bentley put the squeeze on multiple sclerosis over Labor Day weekend.

The MS volunteers passed out Sunfresh lemonade, Bud’s Best Orange Bite Delight cookies and wristbands at Calera Sav Mor, raising close to $500 for MS research.

“My mom (Ann Davis) was misdiagnosed with dystonia before she was diagnosed with MS at the Mayo Clinic in 2010,” Olivia said. “MS cuts off the nerve signal from your brain to a certain part of your body. My mom’s left leg is most affected, but her right leg is getting affected now. More than 400,000 people in the U.S. have MS, we’re getting donations to help find the cause and a cure.”

The Stand Against MS, a national Multiple Sclerosis Society campaign, ran through the summer. Cookies, donated by Bud’s Best, and lemonade, donated by Buffalo Rock, were contributed to volunteer groups who set up old-fashioned lemonade stands in their communities. Funds raised go to research for finding a cure and help support services for people living with the disease.

Olivia’s dad, Bill Davis, fired up the Ribs-To-Go wagon to help devour the disease. “While I don’t deal with the symptoms, our whole family suffers from it. Bottom line: We need a cure. I plan to make this a yearly event.”

Ann Davis joined forces with the MS Society because she wants to do something for the people who have been diagnosed and prevent more people from learning what it means to live with the disease.

“As of now, there’s no cure for MS, and with a diagnosis occurring every hour in this country, it’s time to act,” Ann said. “Donations to the national Multiple Sclerosis Society are helping to change the world right now and we are getting closer to the hour when no one will have to hear the words, ‘You have MS.’ ”

Other Stand Against MS sponsors were SGI Deliver Solutions, The Mobile Attic, CBS42, WAPI FM, Rock 99, JOX 94.5 and Hot 107.7.

 

Mollie Brown can be reached at dmjhb1@bellsouth.net.