After I met someone who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS), I developed a different outlook on life. It showed me that you shouldn’t take anything for granted.
People who are diagnosed with MS are not able to feel their nerve endings, which ultimately prevents them from controlling their bodies. I met a young man, about my age that has been fighting against this disease his whole life. It showed me even though he has a disease that affects his movements, it doesn’t stop him from completing his goals in life. My friend Collin asked if my family and I wanted to attend this charity event for a family friend and help with the softball tournament. I met Matt at the charity event for him and his family. It was held at a local park which included auctions, a bake sale, and a softball tournament. All the proceeds went to Matt and his family.
After talking with Matt about what he likes to do and what he wants to do in the future, I thought I could do something to help out the cause by doing community service to help families affected by MS.

I decided to help out at an event at the Milwaukee County Zoo. My friend Jeremy’s mom works for the MS society, and asked Jeremy and I if we wanted to help run the event. It was called the MS Day at the zoo. It allowed families affected by MS to take a day without life’s problems. As my friend Jeremy and I arrived we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into but we knew that we were helping make a difference.

“I wonder what we are going to be doing today,” Jeremy said to me.

“I don’t know man, but we are helping out a good cause,” I said.


After we got there, we were told our jobs and what families we would work with. Our jobs were to show the families around the zoo and help them with anything they needed. These things included helping show them the certain animals, where to get food, show them where the bathroom was and direct them around the zoo. As we were done showing the first family, a father of a man with MS says to me, “You don’t understand what you did for my son and my family today. You really made a big difference by helping my family and I enjoy a day together and forget all of our worries. You showed us that even though my son has MS, there still is something to enjoy in life.”

For the rest of the day, all I could think about is what this man said to me. Hearing that made everything I did worth while. I helped a family enjoy a day without worrying about how the disease that affected their loved one. Nothing should be taken for granted and doing community service can make a difference.