The Jasper Rockhoppers are gearing up for another season of riding and fundraising for Multiple Sclerosis, and with a new MS resource office in Hinton, Rockhoppers team captain Greg Van Tighem says the resources and support for people with MS will be a huge help for people in Jasper.

“It’s going to be really good for Jasper, because the actual resource people are going to be coming out here at least once, sometimes twice a week, to meet with people. Because of that, they are going to establish all these links and relationships, and the ones from Jasper now are going to be well better served, and they are going to be well connected with the resources a lot quicker,” Van Tighem says. “I think it’s going to be real positive for the people in Jasper who are dealing with MS.”

Before the Hinton office was established only a few months ago, Jasperites with MS had to go to Edmonton to get the support they needed, and Van Tighem says some people weren’t even aware of the possibilities of treatments because there wasn’t the same connection.

The Rockhoppers are kicking the fundraising off with the film Follow Me, a mountain bike documentary that will be shown at the Activity Centre on Wednesday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8, and includes a membership into the Jasper Mountain Bike Association. A presentation on the status of the Jasper trail program will also take place, as well as an opportunity for people to provide input into the trail system.

Van Tighem says he also hopes to have a car wash in the next couple of weeks, however it is weather-dependant.

The Rockhoppers team, which will ride in the Hinton MS Bike Tour in September, ride every Thursday night, and are still looking for more members, as they lost some from last year.

A new event this year will be an MS luncheon at the Activity Centre which will feature presentations by the president of the MS Society and some management staff at the management office, some local Jasperites who have MS, and Geke Duncan, client-co-ordinator for the Hinton office.

“The whole purpose of this is to get people into the room – it is sort of a big awareness blitz on the MS situation in Alberta, and more specifically, an introduction to the new Hinton resource office which services Jasper,” says Van Tighem, who hopes to have a date set for the event near the end of June.

Last year, the Rockhoppers raised almost $80,000, which was first in the province for the MS mountain bike tours. For more information on how to join the Rockhoppers team, call 780-931-0075.