Rose Mili wins Jefferson Award for volunteer work with MS Society

Rose Mili, senior communications manager in the External Affairs Department, is the latest recipient of the quarterly Christiana Care Jefferson Award.

The quarterly award recognizes Christiana Care employees who exemplify actions and attitudes of service, caring and leadership beyond the work they do each day for Christiana Care.

For the past 20 years Mili has produced all of the marketing and promotional materials—brochures, T-shirts, prizes, ads and posters—needed to make the Society’s annual Thanksgiving MS Walk/Run a success.

The 2011 event was the largest ever for the Delaware chapter, netting more than $115,000 and drawing nearly 3,000 participants.

Mili received the MS Communicator of the Year Award in 2007 and helped the Race/Walk’s planning committee win the Helen Serbu Volunteer of the Year Award in 2009.

“Around 1998, a good friend was diagnosed with MS,” Mili says. With a personal connection, she says, the cause began to resonate more. “You know how someone is affected, how having an unpredictable disease affects your life,” she says.

“That year, in addition to being on the planning committee I began to participate in the 5K walk and raise additional funds through my walk pledges. I have probably raised on average about $500 per year.” In addition to walking, she helps manage a plethora of tasks on the day of the event, from assisting with registration, to directing participants and working with volunteers.

That kind of fundraising success earned Mili a “Golden Sneaker” moniker from the race officials, meaning she is one of the chapter’s top fundraisers. Now, to benefit the MS Society she has added even more effort, joining the planning committee for the Women Against MS events and serving on the executive committee of the charity’s new “MSquerade” in November.

While Mili says she has no idea how many people she has affected, she says she does feel a wonderful sense of community and she gets energized by seeing several thousand people show up on race day, ready to help a good cause.

Christiana Care partners with the Jefferson Awards to encourage and honor employees who provide community service.

If you know of someone deserving of consideration, simply complete the Jefferson Award nomination form on the portal. Nominations are welcomed on a rolling basis and winners are announced quarterly.