March is the month for awareness of a disease without a known origin and a myriad of symptoms: multiple sclerosis.

This autoimmune disease affects some 1 million people in the United States and 2.3 million globally, predominantly female, and often goes undetected for years due to symptoms that can appear to be attributed to other conditions.

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive disease without a known cure but it does have mitigating treatments that can slow the progression of damage done to the nerve tissues. Symptoms include everything from mobility issues to vision and hearing impairment, entirely dependent upon the stage of disease and where the lesions occur on a particular person’s brain.

The Women of the Moose understand the trials and tribulations that come along with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis and how it can change the life of those affected after members within their community have received diagnoses. This understanding led to them organizing an indoor yard sale and bake sale April 1-3 with lasagna dinners being offered to directly benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, an active leader in researching this debilitating disease as well as offering assistance to the individuals and families contending with MS.

All activities will take place at the Moose Lodge located at 2851 Smithville Highway. Items included in the yard sale vary widely from kids’ items to home furnishings and everything in between.

“We planned to have this last year but COVID halted that,” said Marianne Curtis, organizer of the benefit and longtime member of Women of the Moose. “This year is the inaugural year, but we plan to do something like this every year to benefit MS research and families affected by it after seeing how it has changed the lives of those we know who have received a MS diagnosis.”

Curtis and fellow board member for Women of the Moose, Dayron Deaton-Owens, aim to advocate for MS awareness and educating those in the community about this disease and what it entails. “Most people don’t know what MS is,” said Deaton-Owens. “They don’t realize what the symptoms are. What we’ve learned is that there are more people with this disease than we know about. It’s more prevalent than we think.”

Common activities that many think of being easy can prove exhausting for someone with MS. “I’ve read about, and I thought this was horrible, that some people experience a heaviness in their extremities that makes them feel like lead,” said Curtis. “So for them, just walking into the store to get a gallon of milk can really wipe them out.”

Part of their indoor yard sale will feature an information kiosk where visitors can learn more about MS and what it entails so they can better understand this disease. “This is all about making people aware and it’s also important to help people know how to support their family members because you don’t always know how to help them,” explained Deaton-Owens.

Those who wish to contribute to their cause are encouraged to participate in a number of ways. Donations for items will be accepted until Sunday and they can be brought during any hours that The Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge is open beginning at 12 p.m. daily today through Sunday. A bake sale featuring pound cakes, cupcakes, casseroles and much more will be available during the yard sale.

Moose Lodge has set a goal of raising $1,000.