Learn About Multiple Sclerosis This Week on Westford CAT

By Lauren Horton, Manager, Westford CAT

National MS Awareness week starts on Monday, March 12 and continues through Sunday, March 18. When Westford resident Amber Stalker decided to take a local approach to awareness week, she contacted the station to post an announcement on the community bulletin boards. After talking about her plans, it was agreed that Westford CAT could play a bigger role in educating our community on the facts about the disease.

Starting on Monday, March 12, Westford CAT will be featuring a different educational program on multiple sclerosis each evening at 7 p.m. during MS Awareness Week. These programs will help explain the disease, its symptoms and its impact on a person’s daily life. We’ll also be running a new fact about the disease each day on the community bulletin boards for all three Westford CAT channels. Topics to be covered throughout the week include the impact of the disease on pregnancy and work, and how to deal with symptoms like fatigue, cognitive impairment, and loss of balance.

 Some of the other activities taking place during MS Awareness Week are:

• “Kids Get MS Too” Winter Weekend in Springfield on March 10 and 11
• Open houses at the chapter offices in Waltham and Manchester NH
• a teleconference on emerging therapies on March 13,
• several community fundraisers. 
• Orange flag displays can be seen at RJ Kelly’s in Burlington
• Orange flag displays also at Bernie & Phil’s Furniture in Saugus and Nashua NH.

 If you would like to participate, contact the Chapter at 1-800-344-4867 or visit www.msnewengland.org. Also, look for a new series on Westford CAT called “Ask the Doctor” that will further the discussions on topics affecting patients who have been diagnosed with MS. Anyone interested in helping to get this started should contact the station. There are openings for both on-camera and crew.

Other Westford CAT News

We are continuing our training workshop series each Monday this month, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the studio. Next class is Camera Operator training on March 12. You can prepare for the class by going to our Facebook page and reading the posted article entitled, “Basic Training: The 9 Classic Camera Moves.” Studio Production training is on March 19, and Video Editing training is on March 26. You can sign up for any of these sessions by calling the station at 978-692-7152 or going to our website, www.westfordcat.org.  Also, we are assembling a four-camera crew for this year’s Annual Town Meeting on Saturday, March 24. If you would like to volunteer a few hours to help with camera, graphics or audio, please contact the station or email us at westfordcat@westfordcat.org