Furniture Retailer Helps Others With MS

Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture co-founder Phyllis Rubin, who has battled multiple sclerosis quietly for decades, is appearing in a series of public service announcements that begin airing today during national MS Awareness Week.

Rubin has had multiple sclerosis for nearly 40 years and went public with her story recently in hopes that it will help others, increase awareness of multiple sclerosis, and raise money to find a cure, the retailer said in a press release.

Multiple sclerosis affects more than 2.1 million people worldwide, including more than 400,000 people in the United States and 16,000 people in the Top 100 company’s trading area of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Donations can be made to the Phyl Fund at http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/PhylFund.

Rubin will receive the national MS Hope Award from the National MS Society, Central New England Chapter at its MileStones Gala May 20 at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston. She is being honored for the inspirational life she has led – as an entrepreneur, businesswoman, community benefactor, wife, mother, and grandmother – while living with MS.

Rubin co-founded Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture with her husband Bernie Rubin in 1983 and helped build it into one of New England’s largest furniture chains with six stores. Married for more than 50 years, the Rubins raised three children – Larry, Rob, and Michelle – all working in the family business.

Phyllis Rubin had her first MS attack in 1971, but wasn’t diagnosed until two years later when she lost sight in her left eye.

“There are times when it’s been frustrating like when I couldn’t do even the simplest task like brushing my own hair. But I’ve always had the philosophy that you make the best of what you have,” she said. “Getting MS was something I couldn’t control, so I decided early on I wouldn’t let it stop me from living a full life.”