CCSVI Calgary is a pro-active group working to establish CCSVI testing and safe treatment in Alberta Founded March 15 2010
31/01/2025
I am absolutely thrilled to announce the relaunch of www.mshope.com, the introduction of a new board, and the beginning of another chapter for our MS charity. Recently, Direct-MS legally changed its name to MS Hope, and a new board was elected after my Dad stepped down as President and the outgoing board completed their term.
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the long-term Direct-MS volunteers, including my parents, Rick Riffel, Nick Topolnyski, Rick Bartlett, and Jerry Vandenberg, who built our charity and helped thousands of MS patients around the world. Their dedication laid the foundation for everything we do today.
Now, as MS Hope, we have elected a new board of incredible individuals, all of whom have been personally touched by MS and are passionate about continuing this important work. Our new board members include Tessa Rushton, Keira O’Donnell, Carly Pettinger, and Matt LaFrance. You can find their bios on our new site. In the coming weeks, we'll also be introducing a group of expert advisors and specialists who will help guide us forward as well!
Our goals at MS Hope remain ambitious: to raise funds, freely share information with the MS community, support research, and establish ourselves as one of the largest MS charities in the world. Our ultimate goal is to eradicate MS—a mission many have pursued for decades, but we believe that to achieve what has never been done, we must be willing to do what has never been done. And that starts now. We may not complete our audacious goal, but we’re going to give it a heck of a try!
I also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the amazing team that helped build our new brand, website, and digital assets. This journey began with the volunteer efforts of the wildly talented Paulina Cerezo from Guatemala, who redesigned our logo and led the art direction of our materials and brand. Her husband, Charlie, was also an invaluable guide and support throughout this process. We cannot thank them enough for their amazing work.
A huge shoutout as well to the wonderful team at Muster Point Productions—Holly Dupej, Lindsay Meli, Allan Thrush, Patrick McLaughlin, Brian Murchison, and Mykola Pelikov—who created the videos, project managed, and brought our entire vision to life. Your outstanding efforts have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today.
This has truly been a team effort, and we are just getting started…
