Dear friends and family,
It’s that time again, dust off your shoes and come out and support our great cause, “THE WALK TO D’FEAT ALS.” We’d like to thank those of you who have supported or participated in previous walks on our Team Fox Trotters to benefit The ALS Association. If you haven’t participated in the past, we’d love for you to join our team this year! SAVE THE DATE: This year’s walk is about six weeks away on Saturday, October 10, 2009. Your support and presence really gives me the hope and determination to fight this disease.
Many people might wonder what the money raised from this event will go to, how will it help the cause. Due to my involvement and relationship built with the ALS association I can assure you that the money is well spent. Some of the ways in which the money directly benefits patients includes: holding monthly support groups on how to deal with this disease, in home visits from nurses, respite care (giving care givers a break), utilization of the loan closet, being able to borrow equipment when a patient can’t afford it on their limited Medicare budget, and of course a large amount of it goes to our national research effort to find a cure for this terrible disease. All of these resources have impacted my life in one way or another. With over 38,000 people suffering with this disease there is a real need for support.
Recently, researchers funded by The ALS Association identified a gene that causes familial ALS. This is HUGE! This finding will be helpful in further research, even for those of us with non-familial ALS.
Here in West Michigan, our local chapter uses three major fundraisers to raise the money. The biggest is the annual Walk to Defeat ALSTM. It brings in more than half of the funds needed by our local chapter to operate.
In 2007, thanks to your help, we raised over $17,000. Last year we all brought in over $7,000. This year we are hoping to have over a 150 people walk on our team Fox Trotters to raise $15,000!
We hope that you can join Team Fox Trotters. We will be wearing the blue Fox Trotter T-shirts again. If you plan on walking or need to order a T-shirt, please contact Lori at lorifox@sbcglobal.net or (616) 532-4752 and give your size and who will be walking. The cost of the shirt is $10.00.
Our Captains this year are Dan & Tanya Bolkema. They will be responsible for encouraging and answering questions about the walk, on-line donations, corporate sponsorship, and any other questions you might have. You can contact them at dabbolkema@sbcglobal.net 616-813-2022 or 616-644-1811.
For more information about the walk, visit www.walktodefeatals.org or call 616-459-1900. If you are unable to walk this year but would like to make a donation to our team, you can go to the link at the top right of our blog to find our personal walk page.
All our love,
Eric and Lori Fox
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