DIY Halloween Fundraisers

By Joe Sperlunto, Donor Experience Manager

The spooky season of goblins, ghosts, and ghouls is upon us, and Halloween lovers everywhere are stocking up on candy, making costumes, and decorating their homes with cobwebs, jack-o-lanterns, and giant skeletons (ok – that last one is just my colleague Jen here at MSAA). Such a fun time of year brings family and friends together over all sorts of activities and events – all great opportunities to hold a Do-It-Yourself DIY fundraiser for MSAA! 

Let's get spooky text graphic with skulls and cobwebs to help promote DIY Halloween Fundraisers”

MSAA’s DIY fundraising platform helps you turn any Halloween event into a (fun!)d drive for MSAA’s free programs and services. When you register your fundraising event on our platform, you can create a customizable and fully shareable fundraising page to promote your event and collect donations. Creating and sharing your page will be the easiest part of planning your DIY fundraiser – the real fun is deciding what kind of event you want to do! For inspiration, check out some of our ideas below: 

Halloween House Party 

Everyone loves a Halloween party at the end of October – and you are already planning one! If you are having a Halloween party, you can encourage guests to donate to MSAA. We would be more than happy to provide MSAA-branded swag and literature for your party, and you can even incorporate some of our other ideas below. 

“Trunk-or-Treat” Fundraiser 

Trunk-or-treating has become widely popular in communities looking for a safe alternative to trick or treating. Partner with a local community center, park, or business with an available parking lot, and get a group of friends together to decorate their cars and fill their trunks with candy. Parents who bring their children can donate to MSAA, while you provide a safe and fun activity for kids in your community. 

Costume Contest 

A costume contest can be a wonderful time on its own, or a fun added element to any Halloween-themed event. People spend hours creating costumes for Halloween – give them an opportunity to show off! You can set a minimum donation to enter the contest. Assemble a panel of judges and incentivize your contest with fun spooky (or sweet) prizes! 

Halloween Baking Class 

The return of chilly weather in the Fall sends many of us to our pantries and ovens. If you are an experienced baker who likes teaching their craft or hobby to others, why not host a Halloween baking class in your home?  

Monsters and Goblins 5K 

Walks and runs are a classic DIY fundraiser. Make it a costume run, and you have a Halloween 5K! Our DIY platform makes it easy to create fundraising teams and pages for your runners – it is one of the most popular DIY fundraising events – and we have lots of run/walk related swag we can share for your event.  

Halloween Decorating Contest/Haunted House Tour 

Organize a house decorating contest in your community. Like a costume contest, you will need to assemble a panel of judges and ask participants to donate to MSAA to enter the contest. As a bonus, participants could include a haunted house tour element with a suggested donation to MSAA! 

While the month of October is Halloween season, the needs of the MS community persist all year. MSAA is there for people with MS, their families, and care partners with free programs and services, including cooling and medical equipment, MRI funding, a toll-free helpline, and award-winning online tools and resources. If you have ever thought of hosting a DIY fundraiser for MSAA, Halloween is a terrific opportunity to do. For resources or more ideas for your Halloween event, contact Joe Sperlunto, Manager of Donor Experience, at jsperlunto@mymsaa.org – I would love to help you plan a fun and spooky Halloween event to support MSAA’s free programs and services! 

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Spooky Oreo Dirt Cups

Halloween Dessert RecipeWhip up a batch of Spooky Oreo Dirt cups.  This Halloween dessert recipe makes a tasty chocolatey treat that the kids can even help you make! I love that it’s easy to swap out sugar-free pudding and light Cool Whip to reduce the calories too! Continue reading

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Hazelnut English Toffee Bars

happy-halloweenHappy Halloween!  While handing out candy to the kids in your neighborhood, enjoy this treat for yourself!  This easy-to-make recipe is courtesy of MSAA’s President & CEO, Gina Murdoch.

Makes approximately 24 bars

Preheat oven to 350°

Crust:

2 cups flour
1 cup softened butter (not melted)
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tbs. vanilla

Toffee Sauce:

1 cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup Frangelica (optional)
¾ cup butter
2 tbs. vanilla

Toppings:

1 ¼ cup butterscotch chips
½ Skor toffee chips
1 ¼ cup chopped and roasted hazelnuts

Directions:

  • Spray 13” x 9” pan with Pam. Make sure pan has high sides
  • Chop hazelnuts and put in oven while preheating
  • Mix all ingredients until dough is formed
  • Use Saran Wrap to press dough into pan evenly and smooth is out
  • Take out hazelnuts
  • Cook dough for 23 minutes (dough will still be light in color)
  • Combine all toppings ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil
  • Set oven to 400
  • Pour toffee sauce over dough
  • Put toppings on in this order. Sprinkle over evenly
    1. Butterscotch chips
    2. Toffee chips
    3. Hazelnuts
  • Press toppings lightly into crust with spatula
  • Put pan back in over for 5 minutes at 400 degrees
  • Remove and let fully cool
  • Refrigerate when cool
  • Cut into bars

 

“We hope you enjoy our Recipe of the Month selections on MS Conversations. Just remember: these entries may not necessarily be a part of an MS-specific diet; these are simply recipes compiled from MSAA staff either from their own family recipe collection or based on recipes we think our audience would enjoy. As always, make sure to consult your doctor about any food or nutrition questions as they relate to your MS.”

 

 

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Having a Stress-Free Holiday Season When You Have MS

By: Jeri Burtchell

Each year, I judge how well prepared I am for the holidays by the way Halloween plays out. When I saw my son donning the same scary mask we bought several years ago, I realized I’m as ill-prepared as ever. We’re lucky it still fits, I think to myself as holiday dread settles squarely on my shoulders.

The problem with his costume is not that we aren’t creative, it’s just that life is busy and time slips through our fingers like greased marbles these days. We end up making last minute plans and this Halloween was no exception: get the plastic pumpkin off the top of the fridge and start searching the house for that mask (two hours before Trick-or-Treat officially kicks off). I’m not creating the perfect childhood memories for my son, I fret to myself as I look under the bed for the face from Scream.

The limitations that my MS fatigue and reduced walking ability have placed on me are showing. I’m not looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas with the same enthusiasm as I once did. I’m filled with angst as part of me wants the ultimate “joyful” experience, while the other part just wants it all to be over.

But the holiday season is stressful for everyone. The difference is some people thrive on the stress, which they call “anticipation.” But others like myself are filled with dread. Ever since I was diagnosed with MS in 1999 it seems like I stopped looking forward to the time between Halloween and New Year’s Day. I think it’s because I worry about stress triggering a relapse. And then part of me feels guilty because the children in the family aren’t getting the full “magical” experience.

While I do face physical challenges, my MS isn’t the only factor shaping our family holidays. Mom is 91, and though she’s still undeniably the sharpest knife in the drawer, she doesn’t get around as easily as she once did. Still other family members are living with everything from lactose intolerance to diabetes which influences the dinner menu.

But we are managing. Together our family is learning to adjust to our new collective “normal”. We’re redefining what our get-togethers look like. The emphasis is on comfort and ease while downplaying commercialism. So what if the tree isn’t up or we don’t have a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings? We can define the celebration on our own terms.

The holiday dinners will be potluck so that we can each focus on one dish and prepare it ahead of time. Nobody will be banished to the kitchen and make-ahead dishes can be prepared when the cook (or baker) is feeling up to it.

With dinner prepared in advance, we’ll be free to enjoy each other’s company. The conversations, the laughs, the squealing children, and the photo ops will fill our memories of the day.

If Mom has to take a nap or I have to go lay down for a while, that’s okay. Everyone knows we both have our limits.

At Thanksgiving we’ll draw names for Christmas gift giving. Everyone ends up with a present but only shops for one person instead of ten. With a $20 limit and the convenience of online shopping, we can eliminate the stress of holiday crowds. We’re trying to make it more about the get-together and less about “what-did-I-get?”

Over the past fifteen years, I’ve come to learn a lot about managing my MS. I need plenty of rest, I need to eat right, and I need to exercise. But it’s just as important to reduce the stress in my life. Not only is it bad for MS, but for everyone’s health in general. By reducing the amount of effort (and stress) it takes to pull off a family gathering, we’re really looking out for our health.

The holidays should be about family, love, togetherness, and appreciation for every positive thing in our lives.

So when next year rolls around and my son is reaching for the same old scary mask at Halloween, I’m going to go a little easier on myself. The mask can be a new tradition, a symbol of how we can let go of society’s expectations. It will signal the start of a stress-free holiday season and–with the help of my family–I know we can do this!

References:
http://www.healthline.com/video/managing-multiple-sclerosis

*Jeri Burtchell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. She has spoken from a patient perspective at conferences around the country, addressing social media and the role it plays in designing clinical trials. Jeri is a MS blogger, patient activist, and freelance writer for the MS News Beat of Healthline.com. She lives in northeast Florida with her youngest son and elderly mother. When not writing or speaking, she enjoys crafting and photography.

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Happy Halloween 2014

Boo! From all of us here at MSAA, we’d like to wish the multiple sclerosis community a safe, happy, and fun-filled Halloween!

By Johnny Martin ecdl (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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