MS Society Honors A Champion
Dave and Steve Nichols have long given their time, energy and beer to the Colorado-Wyoming chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Now, the society is returning the favor.
The father and son owners of High Country Beverage in Loveland are the recipients of this year’s Hope award, an annual honor given to community leaders in the fight against the chronic disease.
Phil Yastrow will be honored as MS Champion, an award that goes to an individual living with MS.
Together, they have set a goal of raising between $110,000 and $120,000 at this year’s Dinner of Champions, set for March 22 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Loveland. Last year, the event raised more than $100,000.
The increased goal is audacious in this economy, but Yastrow is no newbie when it comes to raising money.
Last year, he raised more than $30,000 singlehandedly through a variety of MS fundraisers, including the annual Fort Collins walk, 150-mile bike ride, mud run and a marathon. In the seven years since he was diagnosed, he has raised more than $116,000, among the state’s top fundraisers, including $15,000 raised by his parents in Arizona.
His mother raised $5,000 by asking friends attending her 75th birthday party to not bring gifts but instead donate to the MS Society in Yastrow’s name. His dad followed suit when his country club honored him for years of work. That event netted $10,000.
Yastrow, an electrical engineer at Avago, believes that between him and his friends, Dave and Steve Nichols, the goal is achievable. “We’re sending letters to all of our friends to tell them to come buy a table and be at the event,” he said.
The first MS event Yastrow went to was the MS Dinner of Champions, an event the Nichols invited him to. “He’s a great advocate for living well with MS,” said Carrie Nolan, president of the Colorado-Wyoming chapter.
Yastrow is currently asymptomatic except for some numbness and fatigue, both common symptoms in people with MS, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system.
You Rock Phil!! Visit his MS FB page.
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