The Eastern North Carolina Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society presented distinguished volunteer awards to Trish Miller and Beth Rudisill of Cary at the 2009 Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 24 in Raleigh. Rudisill was presented the Norman Cohn Hope award, and Miller received a MOVE (Medal of Valor in Excellence for Leadership) award for unwavering support and outstanding leadership.

Beth Rudisill received the National MS Society's highest volunteer award given by a chapter. The Norman Cohn Hope Award is given to an individual who epitomizes voluntary civic action. She was chair of the Programs Committee and the Mission Delivery Committee. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2002 and has served as Chair since August of 2007. Rudisill provided assistance in developing the chapter's care management program, long-term care committee and recruiting other leaders as program volunteers. She served as chair of the Search Committee for a new chapter president and guided the chapter through Charting Our Future, a new initiative from the national office. Rudisill has spent many hours strengthening relationships with chapter staff and board members and soliciting their input. She is well deserving of the prestigious Norman Cohn Hope Award.

Trish Miller received the MOVE Volunteer Leadership award. As a Movement Ambassador, Miller is a tireless supporter of Chapter events, programs and awareness efforts. She is a founding member of the Talk MS Speakers' Bureau. She serves on the Chapter's Active Living Conference Committee and the Scholarship Leadership Team. Miller also volunteers at Raleigh Neurology and is a Walk MS team captain, raising significant funds to support the mission.

The awards were given at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society 2009 Education Conference and 40th Annual Meeting. The conference, themed "My Life, My MS, My Decisions," provided programs and resources for participants to become better educated about the disease.

To learn how you can join the movement, visit www.nationalMSsociety.org/nct or call 1-800 FIGHT MS.

About Multiple Sclerosis:

Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.5 million worldwide.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society:

MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn't. The Eastern North Carolina Chapter, located in Raleigh, serves the over 4,900 individuals affected by MS in our 49-county area. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. Each year, through our home office and 50-state network of chapters, we devote approximately $125 million to programs and services that enhance more than one million lives to move us closer to a world free of MS. In 2008 alone, the Society devoted over $136 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. The Society also invested nearly $50 million to support 440 research projects around the world. If you or someone you know has MS, please contact the National MS Society today at www.nationalMSsociety.org/nct or 1-800 FIGHT MS to learn about ways to help manage multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.

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Related Links

1. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NCT/index.aspx