Birkie Pins Available to Raise Money for M.S. Society

Alex Kochon · December 6, 2011

Anyone hoping to ski with six-time Norwegian Olympian Vegard Ulvang at the 2012 American Birkebeiner can do so by raising money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The first 25-30 people who raise $1,000 dollars or more will have a chance to “Ski with Vegard” the Thursday before the Feb. 25 race, and have lunch with him after.

For every $250 dollars raised, one can also be entered into a drawing for a trip to Norway for the 2013 Birkebeinerrennet. For example, donating $1,000 dollars would equal four entries.

The Wisconsin MS Chapter, which invited Ulvang to as an ambassador to the event, has Birkie pins available for $20 apiece to make fundraising easier. If you wear the pin on your race bib you are eligible for a finish line prize!

The “Getting a Grip on MS, Ski for the Cure, Birkie 2012” pins can be purchased online.

For more information, visit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s 2012 American Birkebeiner, Skiers for Cures website.

Last year’s “Skiers for Cures” program raised more than $62,000 for MS research, which brought the three-year fundraiser total to more than $220,000. Bjorn Daehlie was the last Birkie MS ambassador in 2009, when he skied with the top fundraisers just days before Wisconsin’s celebrated ski marathon.