Letter from the President

Valentine's Day is today! It's our annual opportunity to go all out and let our loved ones know how much they matter to us. February 14 can also provide the perfect chance to celebrate the lives of those fighting ALS. Although we shouldn't need a reason to hold each other tighter, it is nice to have an entire day devoted to those that we care so much about. The impact of an ALS diagnosis has a rippling effect:  everything changes, and this often affects familial roles and relationships. This month we are have put the spotlight on maintaining personal relationships through an ALS journey.

Please take this opportunity to tell your family and friends how much they mean to you. We have created a special web Valentine to share with all the important people in your life on Facebook. You can also send an eCard. Simply click the button below to get started.

Thank you for showing your love and compassion to the thousands of people fighting ALS and for increasing awareness of Lou Gehrig's Disease. We hope you and your family have a special and heartwarming Valentine's Day.

Sincerely,

Jane H. Gilbert
President & CEO

Advocacy and Public PolicY

Join us in Washington, D.C. on May 8 – 11, 2013 for the National ALS Advocacy Day and Public Policy Conference. The conference will empower you with the tools you need to advocate for policies that are specifically designed to accelerate the development of treatments for ALS.

Learn more and register for ALS Advocacy Day.

Report includes updates and reviews of numerous studies, reports and other evidence demonstrating the link between ALS and military service.

Click here to read ALS in the Military

Research Update

Researchers funded by The ALS Association have discovered evidence of an unexpected cellular process in some people with ALS. The results should allow researchers to better track the disease in these people and may offer a new target for developing therapy.  Read more.

New research funded in part by The Greater New York Chapter of The ALS Association and the Alabama Chapter of The ALS Association revealed that the disease process in ALS involves a complex genetic interplay between motor neurons and astrocytes. Motor neurons are the cells that die during the disease, leading to paralysis. Astrocytes normally support motor neurons but switch to the opposite role during disease progression. Read more.

Caroline Raoux, Ph.D., and Paola Arlotta, Ph.D.

For the first time, ALS researchers have reprogrammed a neuron from one type into another and have done so in a living organism. The finding will help scientists better understand how to control neuronal development and may one day help to treat diseases in which neurons die, including ALS. Read more.

Browse more ALS Research news.  

How You Can Help

If providing compassionate care to people living with ALS, funding research for treatments and a cure and advancing public policy are important to you, we invite you to consider a bequest through your will or living trust to The ALS Association. Below is language you can provide to your financial adviser for including our chapter in your will or living trust:

General bequest:
This is an outright bequest and is usually a gift of a stated sum of money.

"I give $25,000 to The ALS Association (insert Chapter Name), (insert City), (insert State), for its general purposes."

Percentage of remainder:
This bequest gives a percentage of what is left of your estate after taking care of loved ones.

"I give The ALS Association (insert Chapter Name), (insert City), (insert State), __ percent of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, for its general purposes."

Contingent bequest:
You can arrange your bequest so that it is made on the condition that a certain event must occur before distribution to our chapter.

"I give $20,000 to my daughter Shelly, provided she survives me; otherwise, I give it to The ALS Association (insert Chapter Name), (insert City), (insert State), for its general purposes."

One of the reasons bequests are so popular is that you can change your beneficiaries at any time. No matter which type of bequest you choose, your generosity will have left a lasting legacy on people living with ALS and those who love them.

Please contact our office for more information or if we can be of assistance.