On June 14, 2014, the ALS Society of Canada is holding another Walk For ALS fundraiser - and this year I’ve felt led to participate.
A.L.S. was the affliction that rapidly crippled my mother over the course of a year before her passing in 2012. She was diagnosed unexpectedly with Lou Gherig’s disease, after a fall at her home that broke her wrists and sent her to the hospital. The gruelling year that followed was long, difficult, and painful.
My father was at her side throughout the ordeal, but with myself and brother living distant from them, we used whatever opportunity we had to visit. It was not easy in the slightest. But she was surrounded by love and supported by friends and selflessly caring individuals.
Seeing what ALS can do to a loved one first hand - and in such a short period of time - is something you can never forget. I remember the questions and medical uncertainties surrounding the cause and treatments that would become her life for the next year. But her determination and strength was apparent throughout the ordeal right to the very end; her faith and spirit never wavering. She became my inspiration, both for personal strength and for my own faith, for not giving up, for standing up and persevering against all odds… and towards finding a way to spread her story.
You can pledge a donation in various ways:
Online, via this link.
Please find the “Sponsor Me” button, and follow the instructions to send a secure online donation.
Alternatively, if you'd rather not use the online method, you can contact me and donate by cheque as well!
Thank you, thank you!
This condition is debilitating and takes an enormous emotional toll on the victim, and friends and family. And for that reason I’ve decided to take up the Walk this year, and try to do some part, however small it may be, in raising awareness and funding for equipment, support services, education for the ALS?Community, and for ongoing research towards a cure.
If as you’re reading this you feel led to support and sponsor me, first you have my undying gratitude for reading and even considering support! Even if you’re willing and able to donate $5, $10, $15, or whatever amount you feel comfortable with, any donation is helpful and beneficial towards the cause, and I’d be sincerely grateful.
Please, support my walk!
You can pledge and donate online, by phone, or by cheque through me
More details are available on my WalkForALS profile.
(and by all means contact me if you have any questions, or wish to pledge in person!)
My current fund raising goal is $1500, but I'm boosting it up a notch at a time whenever the current goal amount is exceeded!
Personally, I have never done a fundraiser like this before. It is a solid first for me. So I’d also ask, that if you choose not to sponsor me, please, please take a moment and spread the word, pass the link, or even find someone else you know who may also be doing the walk - it’s Canada-wide - and support them.
If you wish, please take some time and peruse another website of mine as well, Finding Caroline - it was set up as a means for me to share in my own exploration of my family history, inspired by my sister’s life and influence on those around her. Caroline lived a short life, dying a year before my birth, having lived in a form of bodily prison herself, struggling due to complications from birth.
My mother loved her dearly, and had hoped to publish Caroline’s short biography before she’d passed, as a simple encouragement to those who would read it. And so, I set up that blog and website as a way for me to share and document my journey through her story.
Finally, thank you - my deepest thanks for taking the time to read this, and hopefully considering donating towards the cause - a search for a cure to the debilitating ALS disease.
~ Geoff May