“What can I do to help?”
by Erica de Klerk
When Tom and Elaine Scriv- ener’s 18-month-old granddaughter asked “Can I help?”
she received the same answer
her cousins, siblings, aunts and
uncles had: “Sure, meaning give
whatever you can of your time
and money to help.” So that year,
when her extended family participated in Walk MS, Madison was
there too—passing out medals to
walkers.
A family a;air
To this day the entire family
works on the day of the
event wherever needed,
including Madison,
who is now five years
old. Tom believes
Walk MS has enabled
the family to remain
close through coming
together to make something good out of their
family’s “nasty situation.” Their son Bill
was diagnosed with
MS in his early twenties, and ten years
later their daughter
received the same
diagnosis.
Soon after Bill’s
diagnosis in 1995,
the family became
involved in Walk
MS near their rural
Three generations of
Scriveners have asked this
question!
Maryland home. First, their
daughter-in-law Cheryl started a
Walk MS event in Westminster.
Then their daughter started one
in Hagerstown. Soon the rest of
the family was roped in. So while
Tom assisted with advertising,
Elaine involved many members of
her church and the whole family
created a fundraising team.
Going beyond Walk MS
Now in his 70s and less
involved in Walk MS,
Tom has taken on new
roles. As a member of the
Steering Com-
mittee for Fast
Forward, the
Society’s arm
focused on speed-
ing development
of new treatments
for MS, Tom has
come to see the
strength in Fast For-
ward’s business model.
Tom learned that
his sister-in-law could
make a donation of cash,
stocks or other assets to
the Society and in return
i
F a
Society’s arm
s
n t
, hs
come to see the
n
bu o
Tom learned that
ss a
make a donation of cash,
o s
t n
Time
be paid a fixed amount each
year for the rest of her life. The
income component of a Society
charitable gift annuity was very
important as his sister-in-law also
lives with a disability. He suggested she help Fast Forward. She
agreed. The gift she made allows
her to honor her nephew and
niece, while still taking care of
her own needs.
Though Tom and Elaine
do not see themselves as large
donors to the Society, their
many contributions of time and
leadership would argue otherwise. They are living out what
they have encouraged their children and grandchildren to do.
Erica de Klerk is a fundraising consultant and currently resides in Greenwich, Conn.
Madison isn’t too little to help.
She helped make sure every
walker crossing the ;nish line
got a medal.
For more information on
how gift annuities can ben-e;t your family and support
our mission, contact our
o;ce at 800-923-7727 or
giftplanning@nmss.org.
