Battle of the Sexes Benefits MS

ESENCE DULCIE introduces one of the women to be auctioned off. - Photo by SHERRIE SHEPHERD.

It was a 'Battle of the Sexes' Date Auction on Feb. 13 when SL residents got together to bid on gorgeous ladies and handsome gentleman who were generous enough to volunteer to be auctioned off to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  A silent auction was conducted simultaneously with donated items by many generous SL merchants.

There was a lot of humor and fun when the ladies and gentlemen took to the runway and as MCs for the event, Esence Dulce and SchMoke Seelowe, encouraged guests to bid on the male or female of their choice while describing their most attractive attributes such as: loves art and good conversation; enjoys skating and scuba diving; versatile in style; and in the case of one gentleman, likes to tidy up (a plus for any woman).

The event was broadcast live by KHNY Honey Radio as DJ Blackrose played the tunes that set the atmosphere for the guests.

The event was sponsored by the sisters of Alpha Omega Mu Sorority with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Dulce, a member of Alpha Omega Mu, explained how the event came to be, "I was diagnosed with MS in March of 2006, a month short of my son's first birthday. For awhile, I struggled with the fact there was not a lot of known causes and effects of this disease and that it chose me.

MC SCHMOKE Seelowe introduces Devon Schism. - Photo by SHERRIE SHEPHERD.

"When I went searching for answers, I was directed to the National MS Society. There I was able to connect with my local chapter and have an outreach.  I have been playing SL since 2005 and have seen many organizations help real life causes through SL into RL.  I was one of the founding members of the Alpha Omega Mu Sorority.  We decided to use MS as our platform for awareness.

"We have been doing the Silent and Date Auction every year since 2008, and it gets better and bigger each year. We also have begun doing a MS Walk in SL like they do in RL. We had our first MS Walk event last year and plan the next in May of this year."  To find out more about the SL MS Walk, contact Esence Dulce.

Tyler Rockwell, one of the autionees expressed his thoughts on the experience, "I enjoyed myself and the fact that it was for the Multiple Sclerosis Society made me enjoy it even more. The sisters of Alpha Omega Mu Sorority are doing a great job, and I am glad I could help.  I was hoping to go for more than 10,000L but at least achieved that, so I was happy.  This was my first time being involved in something like this in SL and was not sure what to expect. I met some good people and will try to make the date worth the final bid."  Another autionee, Devon Schism, also participating for the first time, felt he looked fly but was nervous just the same.  He also expressed that he was happy to do it for such a good cause.

The National MS Society is a collective of passionate individuals who want to do something about MS now-to move together toward a world free of multiple sclerosis. The National MS Society's vision is "A World Free of MS." Their mission is to mobilize people and resources to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of everyone affected by MS. To find out more about the society go to http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx.  To obtain more information about the RL MS Walk go to http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/VARWalkEvents?team_id=191756&pg=team&fr_id=12602.