Thanks for giving to ALS foundation

On behalf of the Les Turner ALS Foundation, I want to thank our volunteers, sponsors and generous individuals who helped make the recent Tag Days donation drives a huge success. Each May, the Les Turner ALS Foundation honors ALS Awareness Month with a series of Tag Day drives. This fundraising effort involves hundreds of volunteers who are stationed at intersections, stores and train stations collecting donations from people who pass by. This grass-roots effort is an example of how dedication, ingenuity and volunteer manpower can have an impact many times beyond the original investment.

Volunteers lined the streets of towns throughout the suburbs and Chicago, collecting donations. They raised $70,000, which will support the fight against ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

ALS is a progressive neuromuscular disorder in which degeneration of the nerves leads to muscle weakness, impaired speaking, swallowing and breathing, and eventually causes total paralysis and death. While treatments and interventions can help alleviate some symptoms and enhance quality of life, there is currently no prevention or cure.

The Les Turner ALS Foundation is the only independent, publicly supported nonprofit organization in the Chicago area dedicated solely to the treatment and elimination of ALS. The Foundation’s fundraising activities, such as Tag Days, increase awareness of ALS and raise money to support two ALS research laboratories and a specialized clinic at Northwestern for people with ALS and for those seeking a medical diagnosis. In addition, the Foundation offers in-home programs, grants and many educational activities. Thank you again. Your support helps keeps hope alive.

Wendy Abrams

Executive director

Les Turner ALS Foundation

Skokie