Who They Are
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society was founded in 1946, in New York City, by Sylvia Lawry whose brother Bernard, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 21.
The insufficient amount of information about the disease and how to help her brother became the catalyst for Lawry placing an ad in the New York Times. This garnered numerous responses from many others experiencing the same as she and her family and thus set in motion the creation of the Society.
Under Lawry's leadership, the Society published manuals to educate the public on MS. During the same period, the Society established chapters across the country and introduced various programs to help those with MS and their families. For more than a half-century, Lawry fiercely pursued her dream of a world free of MS.
Although she did not live long enough to witness a cure for MS, her unfaltering work paved the way for innovative advances that have enabled the Society to achieve more advances in MS than any other neurological condition — raising over $1 billion for MS research and paving the way for every effective MS treatment available today.
What They Do
With a mission to “cure MS while empowering people affected by MS to live their best lives,” the Society continues to build upon nearly 80 years of progress until they achieve their vision of a world free of multiple sclerosis.
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Photos via National MS Society
