Lamberton dedicated to MS fight

Peter Lamberton, a volunteer at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Greater New England Chapter, was named a Cox Charities Community Hero for his work with the organization. The Cox Charities Community Hero program recognizes Cox employees who actively volunteer with a nonprofit. The MS Society will receive a $3,000 grant on Lamberton’s behalf.

What led you to volunteer with the National MS Society?

In 1974, my mother had what we now know to have been an MS exacerbation. As is the case with many MS patients, my mother was able to continue functioning fully and normally until 1990. It was then that she moved to secondary progressive MS and the neurological damage was permanent and more pronounced. Her 42-year career as a registered nurse came to an end, and not on her terms. I was changing careers at that time and made a promise to myself that, once the professional side got squared away, I would contact the local MS Society chapter to volunteer in whatever way I could. In the 20-plus years since, I have walked over 500 miles, participated on teams that have pulled airplanes, and climbed over 1,200 stairs to the top of the John Hancock Building in Boston five months after open-heart surgery.

Are there any common misconceptions about MS? What are some of the steps you take to raise awareness?

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The most common misconceptions I hear now are that MS is fatal and it is contagious. Simply put, it is neither. Over time, you develop your own little “elevator speech” to inform or educate others. The important thing to remember is that you’re not clicking on a taped response. There is another person who wants or needs to know what you know, and in that moment, you are the “face of MS.”

How have you applied the skills garnered in your professional life to your volunteer work?

I have been able to develop my HR knowledge and bring it to the MS Society by facilitating at the local chapter’s annual event for the newly diagnosed, serving on its compensation committee and participating on national task forces working on job descriptions, benefits packaging and standardization of salary administration. •

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