The New Jersey Metro Chapter is proud to introduce our Walk MS 2015 Ambassadors
Aaron and Laura Cohen!
Aaron and Laura Cohen began participating in Walk MS in 2000, after an event brochure at a local barbershop caught Laura’s eye. Friends and co-workers had started to pick up on Aaron’s mobility issues, and Laura’s husband made the decision to publically discuss the cause of his limp. Up until then, Aaron’s MS didn’t really affect his mobility, even though he had been living with MS for at least 24 years.
In 1976, Aaron’s parents had made the decision to not discuss the possibility that Aaron, a 23-year-old newlywed, was living with MS. Treatment options and tests were nonexistent, and doctors offered little counsel. Even a few years later when the diagnosis was firmer, Aaron says, “The only advice given by the doctors was: ‘Get your rest. Reduce your level of activity, and try not to do anything to exacerbate the MS.’”
In year one, Laura managed to raise about $2,000 for Walk MS, reaching out to her friends and family for donations. The Cohens returned to Walk MS in 2001, joining the chapter at Nomahegan Park in Cranford, NJ. In her sophomore year, Laura managed to individually raise $7,357.
Encouraged by chapter staff, Laura chose to launch a Walk MS team in 2002, and Mitzvah Squad was born.
“My co-captain, at that time, was a 17-year-old young lady whose mom was disabled from MS,” Laura says. “Stephanie co-opted the youth group, of which she was president, into adopting the Walk as a community-service project.”
That first year, Mitzvah Squad raised $12,972.
In 2003, Aaron’s brother Larry responded to Laura’s Walk MS solicitation letter with a generous offer: Larry offered to match all Mitzvah Squad donations. The team walked away raising $46,675 that year.
Each year, the Cohens work hard to grow their team. Since its first year together, the team “has grown in the number of supporters, team members, sponsors and fans,” says Laura. “We are a friends and family team, as opposed to a corporate team. We have the flexibility to try anything we like to attract donations for our cause.”
And they certainly do.
Mitzvah Squad launched a team Facebook page and Twitter account, allowing participants and donors to keep up-to-date with their team. The team utilizes their Walk MS participant center to connect with donors via solicitation emails. Aaron and Laura work hard to spread the word to local community members, connecting with their son’s fraternity brothers, attending National Multiple Sclerosis Society conferences and speaking at chapter events.
“After 14 years of raising money for [the Society], and earning national recognition for having one of the top friends and family teams in the country, I get what sets us apart from the pack of thousands of teams,” says Laura. “It is our understanding of the meaning of reaching out to expand our influence, keeping good records and communicating on a regular basis. It’s the NETWORK.”
“I ask for support for a cause I believe in. I truly believe that donors receive psychic and spiritual benefit by doing this mitzvah, or good deed, if you will,” Laura says. “Don’t ever downplay the value of passion for a cause, or believing in yourself.”
For Laura, fundraising for the National MS Society, is crucial, “[The Society] insists that its research grant recipients collaborate with each other — an innovation that few in the disease research field require, but one that has led to faster progress on treatments and on understanding this mysterious illness.” With a lifetime total of $633,000, Laura, Aaron and their team aren’t stopping now!
And, for Aaron, Laura’s support – after 40 years of marriage – is tremendous.
“I’ve been lucky,” says Aaron. “I use a walker to get around and a scooter for long distances. I have had no cognitive issues. I have been taking Betaseron for 19 years, since my last identifiable incident. My diagnosis is now secondary progressive, and I had six rounds of Novantrone treatments 13 years ago.”
Aaron and Laura have three children, two girls and a boy. Aaron was present for it all – swim team and driving lessons, two weddings, three grandchildren. “My original despair at the thought of not living to see my children grow up seems displaced now, but was once very real,” he says. “The ancient advice to take it easy has been long forgotten.”
Currently, Aaron works as a senior technical executive consultant in the IT industry. “I can honestly say that I have never missed a day of work because of the MS,” says Aaron. “I do, however, need a 15-minute power nap at my desk some days, usually after lunch.”
Aaron has served as president of YM-YWHA of Union County, co-president of Temple Beth-El Mekor Chayim (alongside Laura) and was a board member for the Jewish Federation of Central NJ. Aaron enjoys traveling with Laura, and has “gotten quite good at planning and executing travel adventures that take into account the vicissitudes of traveling with mobility issues.”
Aaron makes time to blog about his journeys and more on his blog www.gimpytraveller.blogspot.com.
“As I said before, I’ve been lucky,” Aaron summarizes. “MS is a terribly strong, frustrating adversary, but we work hard every day to reduce its impact to that of mere annoyance.”
