8th Annual Hope Walks for ALS

The ALS Hope Foundation would like to thank everyone who made our 8th Annual Hope Walks for ALS a success! To all those  who joined, formed and donated to our teams; our volunteers; to the families who came out; to our Hope Ambassador, Bernie Parent; to our volunteers; and to our clinic staff: This event would not have happened without your dedication and support!      

Thank you again to our generous event sponsors: Medpro RX; The Levine Family; Karen and Scott Tarte; Morgan Stanley; Arthur Jackson; Reino's Design Print Mail; Scott Furman Re/Max; Klehr, Harrison, Harvey Branzburg LLP; and MH Capital. 

Thank you also to those who made in-kind donations to help us with food, services, supplies, and raffle items: Nicky's Auto Body Restoration; Mainline Pizza; Insomnia Cookies; Herr's; Martin's Potato Chips; Pepsi; Hatfield; Federal Pretzel;Tri-State Public Adjusters; Costco; Wegmans; Target; ShopRite; Pizonka, Reilley, Bello & McGrory, P.C.; and Plymouth Ambulance Service.

Our vendors were amazing and our face-painter, balloon artist, and DJ were fabulous!   

We are already excited about next year. Thanks for an amazing day! If you didn't get a chance to support your team, you can still make a donation on the Walk site.

See the ALS Hope Foundation Facebook page for more photos!

Photos by Robert E. Patterson

Bobtoberfest

On October 10, the Bryn Mawr Running Club held its 9th Annual Bobtoberfest. This race along Kelly Drive is characterized by the Oktoberfest theme with race staff dressed in traditional German festive clothing. There was a fun, German-themed post-race party at the Bachelors Barge Club (Boathouse #6).   

All proceeds from the race  benefited the ALS Foundation in honor of former BMRC club president Tom Corrigan. Thank you, Bryn Mawr Running Club and everyone who made Bobtobefest a great event! See you next year.

Someone I Love Has ALS

Someone I Love Has ALS is now available! We would like to send a huge thank-you to Jodi O'Donnell-Ames for all of the love and commitment she poured into this book. We would also like to thank our team members Dr. Terry Heiman-Patterson, Sara Feldman, Mary Paolone, and Latoya Weaver for the care and time they put into their chapters. Finally, thanks to publisher Jack Tatar for believing in and publishing this work.  

All proceeds from the sale of this guide for ALS caregivers will benefit the ALS Hope Foundation and our sister organization Hope Loves Company, a non-profit that offers support services to children who are affected by ALS in the family.

Copies of Someone I Love Has ALS will be available in at the MDA/ALS Center of Hope shortly. Get yours in clinic! You can also purchase the book through Amazon.  If you purchase them through Amazon, don't forget to use Amazon Smile!   

Click on the link below. 

http://www.amazon.com/Someone-Love-Has-ALS-Caregiver/dp/0996459898/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442669089&sr=1-1&keywords=someone+i+love+has+als

Tri the Wildwoods

Thank you Mike and Nicole McDevitt and Joe McGinty, Team IAMAGAINSTALS, for representing the ALS Hope Foundation and spreading ALS awareness at Tri the Wildwoods in Wildwood, NJ on August 29th.  Way to go Joe on placing 4th in your age group!

Camp HLC

Join our friends at Hope Loves Company for Camp HLC at Frost Valley YMCA Claryville, NY

Camp takes place October 16th through October 18th, 2015. Registration is open until Oct. 2nd. It’s free to children and young adults who have family members living with ALS.

Sign up today! www.HopeLovesCompany.com

Ice Bucket Challenge in LOVE Park

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CLICK HERE to watch a video of the ALS Hope Foundation's Ice Bucket Challenge in LOVE Park, featuring an interview with Dr. Terry Heiman-Patterson. Thank you to everyone who took the challenge with us, to CBS Philly for their wonderful coverage, and to 7-11 and the Home Depot for their donations of ice and buckets! 

The MDA/ALS Center of Hope's Ice Bucket Challenge

On Tuesday August 4th, the clinic team at the MDA/ALS Center of Hope accepted the ice bucket challenge!  They got creative with their ice bucket alternative and challenged other clinic teams to take the challenge

#EveryAugustUntilaCure

2015 Ice Bucket Challenge Kick Off

Inspirational PALS Pete Frates and Pat Quinn officially opened the 2015 Ice Bucket Challenge on July 31 in Fenway Park! #EveryAugustUntilACure    

Get ready for the ALS Hope Foundation's special kick off! Who will you challenge this year?

The Joshua Tkachuk Memorial Fund

Joshua Tkachuk

The ALS Hope Foundation is grateful for the continued support of the Tkachuk family. The Tkachuks tragically lost their son and brother Joshua to ALS at the young age of 18. We were privileged to care for Joshua at the MDA/ALS Center of Hope.

Joshua's sister Jessica is getting married on September 12, 2015. She has asked that her guests please donate to the Joshua Tkachuk Memorial Fund in lieu of gifts. (You can make a donation here). These funds will support the MDA/ALS Center of Hope, where Joshua was loved and cared for. Below is a message from Joshua's family. 

We were blessed with Joshua on October 6, 1993, and ALS took him away on June 5, 2012. This was the most heart-breaking day of our lives… next to the one where they told us that he had ALS and he wasn’t going to survive.          

Before Josh became ill, he was an active, hard-working teenager who loved being around his family and friends.  He was grateful for the simple things in life, like having his own room and going out to dinner.  He enjoyed our family vacations visiting his grandmother in Florida, and playing rounds upon rounds of miniature golf in Ocean City, Maryland.                

He liked being outdoors, working in the yard or taking walks in the woods. He loved to play basketball and golf. He was on the bowling team at school.  He was very good at video games, board games and WII bowling.  (He could bowl a strike from another room!) He enjoyed watching movies, listening to music, and playing his bass guitar. He had recently gotten his learner’s permit and was looking forward to getting his driver’s license.          

He was a senior at W.B. Saul High School for Agriculture where he was studying to become a landscaper. After graduation he planned on going into business with his best friend, Nick. (Nick has since joined the Navy.)

When he wasn’t in school, Joshua spent a great deal of time working at the golf course in the Green Valley Country Club, in Lafayette Hill, Pa.

Joshua was such a treasure. Not only was he a wonderful son, but he was an amazing human being. He was so loving, thoughtful, and kind. He was humble, generous, and caring. He was a dear brother, grandson, nephew, and cousin. He was a best friend, an honor roll student, a good neighbor, and a great co-worker.

Even though Joshua was just 18, he bravely faced and fought the disease with such incredible strength and determination.  And even in the midst of it all he was still able to smile.

Joshua was, and still is the most courageous young man we have ever known and no words could ever express how much we love him, how much we miss him, and how utterly broken our hearts are having lost him to ALS.