MS dinner honors two hard-working champions

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Â*News - Monday, February 17, 2003
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MS dinner honors two hard-working champions
Martell, Collopy have given much to MS battle

By JOEY KIRCHMER
JoeyKirchmer@coloradoan.com


Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan
GIVING THEIR ALL: Charles Collopy, above, and MaryAnne Martell, below, will be honored at a Feb. 27 dinner for their work to help those with multiple sclerosis.


Rich Abrahamson/The Coloradoan

Interested?
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Dinner of Champions will on Feb. 27. Information: Chris Imsland at 407-7022.
Visit www.fightmscolorado.org to learn more about MS.

Charles Collopy
Age: 80
Occupation: retired surgeon
Education: bachelor's degree from University of Denver; University of Colorado School of Medicine
Family: wife, Francis, four children and four grandchildren

MaryAnne Martell
Age: 49
Occupation: substitute teacher
Education: bachelor's degree in English from Colorado State University. Master's degree in education from the University of Illinois, graduated from the University of Wyoming Law School
Family: mother, Mary Ann Husted; brother, Jim Martell and sister, Patty Rodriguez.

MaryAnne Martell and Charles Collopy have two of the biggest hearts in Fort Collins -- and someone is taking notice.

Martell, a substitute teacher and part-time medical worker, and Collopy, a retired orthopedic surgeon, will be commended for their tireless work and goodwill in the community by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at the Dinner of Champions on Feb. 27.

Martell will receive the MS Champion award for her work with the community and the MS Society. Martell, who was diagnosed with MS four years ago,
has worked for years to help raise money for MS patients.

"I see this award as an acknowledgment of my involvement in the community, which feels really great," Martell said. "I also feel good about having the chance to talk to people about MS and let them know that it's not necessarily a killer."

Martell said medicine is catching up quickly with MS and believes she will see it cured within her lifetime.

"There's a lot of hope for reaching a cure for this disease," she said. "We are so close. It's just amazing to see how far along we've come in the past 10 years."

Martell has worked tirelessly with various MS organizations to help spread awareness and raise money to find a cure. Though she said she has slowed down quite a bit in the past few years because of the disease, Martell, a former lawyer and full-time teacher, still finds a way to stay involved in both local and county issues.

Multiple sclerosis affects the central nervous system, mainly the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms can be as mild as numbness or tingling or as severe as paralysis.

In Northern Colorado, one in 400 people have MS and rely on the MS Society for assistance, development manager Chris Imsland said.

The Dinner of Champions is one of the premier fund-raisers for the MS society, Imsland said. It often brings in tens of thousands of dollars to help people living with MS, spread awareness and fund research.

Collopy, who is 80 years old, will be receiving the MS Society's highest honor, the Hope Award, for his numerous contributions to the Fort Collins community.

Collopy is the founder of the Children's Clinic, a local nonprofit facility that provides medical assistance for children whose families are unable to afford medical care.

Collopy opened the clinic in 1989 and went on to open a nonprofit dental clinic soon thereafter. He said the clinic asks patients to pay if they can but never has refused a patient if they were unable to afford it.

"The clinics have been successful, in large part, due to the enormous donation of time, money and effort by the citizens and doctors of this community," Collopy said. "It's rather overwhelming to have been a part of it."

Collopy said receiving the Hope Award means a great deal to him, but takes the award recognizing that he is only a representative of many others who have been generous with their time and money.

"It makes it all worth the while to watch those children go in and get treated with respect," he said. "You won't get the full flavor of it until you actually go into the waiting room and just sit there for two minutes."

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