#059: Scoring for Science: The Dunk MS Fundraiser with Blake Arnet

Blake Arnet talks about his motivation for the Dunk MS fundraiser event that takes place each spring in Los Angeles.

You can read the full interview on my blog: https://ms-perspektive.com/59-blake-arnet

Welcome to today's episode where I talk with Blake Arnet, a former UCLA basketball player, about his fundraising event, Dunk MS. Blake's mother was diagnosed with MS and passed away shortly after. He and his family initially participated in various fundraisers until Blake started the Dunk MS event a few years ago to make a larger contribution to research towards better treatment options and eventually a cure for MS.
In this interview, he talks about how his mother's disease influenced his life choices and led him to use his athletic background for a cause that is close to his heart. The annual donations go to UCLA, which will be represented at the event by the renowned and award-winning MS researcher Prof. Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, who is a big basketball fan herself.

Introduction of Blake Arnet

I'll give a quick highlight of myself. My name is Blake Arnett. I went to UCLA, I played basketball there. My mom was diagnosed with MS, when I was a junior in high school and unfortunately, she passed away only two years later due to MS complications. And so after that, obviously, you know, me and my family were pretty devastated. We went to walk MS and bike MS as a family. But I thought to myself, with my background in basketball, sports coaching and entrepreneurship, why don't I create my own event from scratch and raise as much money as possible. I really had nothing to lose and so that's where the idea of Dunk MS came to mind for me, in 2018 was our first event, and we raised $45,000 in my first year. So I knew I had something special here. And so ever, ever since then, and ever since my mom passed, um, finding a cure for MS and helping those affected by the disease, is my life mission. And I'm not going to stop until we find a cure and I'll give more details as we get along here, but yeah.

Finally, what message of hope or encouragement would you like to share with individuals living with MS?

[00:19:44] Blake Bernet: I would say whatever you're doing, at least for me, you inspire me and the people who have a chronic illness that it's not their fault, right? You're living every day with this disease. You're doing the best you can. That is inspiring to me. I don't know how… what I would do if I was in their shoes and so I feel privileged and blessed and honored to be, to have the things I have and the health that I have, I try not to take that for granted, because I've seen it firsthand, you know, go very wrong um. So, you all inspire me every day and a lot of others too, so just keep living, keep doing the best you can and we're all thinking about you.

Farewell How and where can interested people find you and your event online?

At dunkms.com. Everything is there, the event background, all our videos, information, tickets, if you want to just donate. We have a virtual sound auction, so anyone across the world can join and just simply buy a free virtual ticket for our event. And then you can also participate in our virtual sound auction, and we'll ship anything directly to you. In 2024, the Dunk MS event is taking place Saturday, May 18th. And we're doing it as a yearly event. You can find more information on all social media as well, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Dunk MS.

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A big thank you to Blake and everybody who is involved and helps to make this event successful and raise money for multiple sclerosis research.

See you soon and try to make the best out of your life,
Nele

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