Hi again folks! I am making the call for another round of donations for the big National MS Society bike ride event next month! I'm very close to reaching my goal and I am only $2500 short as of now. I know it's within reach! If you or someone else you know can help put me over the edge (haha, like I *need* that, right?), then we can all sleep well at night :) Or something like that. Anyway, if you can donate even the smallest amount, it would be greatly appreciated! No donation is too small.

As many of you may know by now I was diagnosed 5 years ago with Multiple Sclerosis (a degenerative neurological illness), after having a series of escalating symptoms for nearly a year before that. (well if you didn't know before, you do now! surprise!) April 16, 2003 was the day that really did change my life forever.

Each year the Eastern North Carolina chapter of the National MS Society hosts a 2-day bicycle ride, called BikeMS, in the city of New Bern, North Carolina. I will be riding with Team Inspire for the BikeMS event (www.bikems.org) and we will ride 150 miles (75 each day). Each team member must raise funds for MS research and for providing assistance to those with this disease. Donations for this event are 100% tax-deductible since the National MS Society is a federal 501(c)3 non-profit group.

This year, the National MS Society has set their goal to raise $1,600,000 (yes, that's 1.6 million dollars!). I have a personal goal of $7,000. I am asking for anyone to make any kind of donation of whatever amount they can swing. Donations can be made online at my fund raising page here:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/duanetoler

Below my handsome picture is the button labeled "Donate to Duane". Just click that and follow the instructions.

If you would rather send a check, you can hand-deliver it to me and I will promptly send it to the MS Society office in Raleigh, but please make it out to "National MS Society" and please be sure to write on the memo line "Bike MS - Duane Toler" so they will know to whom to credit the donation. Or, if you'd rather send a check yourself, that's fine too. You can send the check to:

National MS Society
Eastern NC Chapter
3101 Industrial Drive, Suite 210
Raleigh, NC 27609

But again, *PLEASE* write "BikeMS - Duane Toler" on the check's "Memo" line (otherwise the donation will be accredited to the general fund and I won't get the special golden turkey prize... well.. assuming there actually is a golden turkey..)

Check out my fund raising page for updates and please ask other folks if they would be interested in donating as well. I have also found many companies will do matching corporate donations. Feel free to contact me for info about that, too. If you print this e-mail, then you can use an alternate web address for my donation page instead of typing out the whole address above. The alternate address is http://tinyurl.com/4um3to and it will just redirect you to the same fund raising page automatically.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and helped me over the years, and I know I can count on you all to help me take this fight against MS to the next level. With your help we can all wake up to a world one day where no one has to hear "You have MS".