...and here we go (again) - Bike MS 2014!

Hi everyone! This blog article is my official kick-off for Bike MS 2014 fundraising. Bike MS is in Logan, Utah this year on June 28th and 29th. I wanted to start my fundraising by reviewing last year's ride and giving you some highlights from the 2013 Chapter Annual Report - so you see more about how your money was used last year. And lastly, I'll show you how to donate to Bike MS 2014, I hope I can count on your continued support this year. Details after the jump...

First off, THANK YOU for helping make Bike MS 2013 a success, and for helping make life better for those folks affected by MS in our local communities. Here's my detailed recap from last year's ride - including lots of pictures, GPS routes of our riding, and a few stories about people I met that weekend who really touched my heart. I treasure the connections I make on these rides more than anything else...

Here are some updated, finalized statistics from Bike MS 2013, and my and Team WinCo's fundraising efforts.

• 2,500 riders teamed up to raise $1.57 million for the Utah-Southern Idaho chapter of the National MS Society! (More info about the significance of this amount later in the article...)
• Team WinCo raised a total of $17,520! This earned us the "Top Rookie Team" award!
• We (you and I) teamed up to raise $7,800 - which placed us at 13th place overall. This was a slight increase in fundraising from last year, but the fundraising ranking decreased from 8th to 13th. That is all good news in my mind, as that tells me we had more big-dollar fundraisers on the ride in 2013 than we had in 2012.
• Team WinCo placed three riders in the "150 Club", which recognizes the top 150 fundraisers: Rex Parker (13), Greg Goins (27) and Eric Jeglum (72). The "150 Club" represents the top 6% of all the riders in Bike MS last year, so it's a small group of dedicated fundraisers. I'm proud to be in this group, and proud of my teammates!
• Most of our team rode the full distance: 175 miles in two days. Cumulative riding for the team was 1,790 miles! The riding was fantastic, and the weather was HOT - as evidenced by one of my favorite pictures from last year, our team captain Greg cooling off by sitting on some ice blocks with other riders and volunteers.

Greg on Ice

If you're interested, all of our pictures from the event can be viewed here. As you can probably tell, we had a great time, as did everyone else I met that weekend. And we're sure looking forward to fundraising and riding again this year.

So, on to one of my favorite things to share with you all - the 2013 Annual Report for the Utah-Southern Idaho chapter of the National MS Society. What are some of the things you helped make possible this year? Some highlights from the report...

• More than 6,700 people have sought services from our chapter
• 1,412 people attended 80 different programs, including education, emotional health, family, social, physical wellness, and professional education
• Over 16 scholarships were awarded to students with or impacted by MS, totaling $24,500
• 118 people received direct financial assistance to help them remain independent and in their homes, or to assists them through a hardship and time of need - 30% of those dollars are spend on utilities and housing expenses. You may recall that a portion of the Busted Wagon fundraiser proceeds here in Boise was earmarked for direct financial assistance as well, and it's clearly needed.
• There has also been exciting news on the research front, with a 10th form of treatment approved last year, and a new research focus this year on progressive MS - which could really help folks like my brother Rick.

On the financial side of things, I wanted to highlight just how important Bike MS is to our chapter. Total revenue for the chapter last year was $2.47 million dollars. Bike MS bought in $1.57 million on its own. That's roughly %64 of total revenue for the year. From ONE EVENT. Bike MS raises over three times the amount of all of the Walk MS events in our chapter combined. Bike MS is a huge event, with a huge impact to our chapter.

Total Chapter Revenue, Page 8, 2013 Annual Report

Another interesting number: Programs and Services cost $2.01 million to run last year. Bike MS bought in enough money to cover %78 of the cost of these Programs and Services! Now, my percentages are not exact, I'm not allocating Benefit to Donor Costs or expenses for each special event or revenue source...but they are close, I'm sure, and my intent is to communicate how important Bike MS is to our chapter.

I'd hate to think of where we'd be without Bike MS, and I'm proud to participate, and I hope that you are as well.

You can access the 2013 annual report online here, and I would absolutely encourage you to do so. It's a quick 11-page read, and you can check out my good friend and teammate Gordie Myre, posing with the rest of the "I Ride With MS" riders at Bike MS 2013 on Page 5.

To wrap this up, I'll just say one more time - THANK YOU for your generous support of me, Bike MS, and the National MS Society over the past two years - and I'd be honored to receive your support again this year. Team WinCo's goal this year? Double the riders, double the fundraising. And with your help, I know we can do it. 

You can donate to Bike MS 2014 by clicking on the DONATE button above, on the banner at the top of this page, or you can go directly to my fundraising page here.

Here we go!