Why We Walk
When you participate in The ALS Association’s Walk to Defeat ALS®, you support people living with ALS in our community and advance global ALS research and public policy initiatives aimed at finding treatments and a cure for the disease. The funds you raise have a direct impact in the lives of people affected by ALS and they are counting on you for help!
"When diagnosed with ALS in 2010, I already knew the challenges. My best friend was diagnosed with the same disease in 2006. Fortunately, he's a fighter and a terrific role model. He made me understand that people truly want to help us face the challenge, but struggle with how. That's why I believe the ALS Association's Walk to Defeat ALS is the perfect avenue to channel the love and energies of family, friends and colleagues who are determined to help us find a cure. The Walk is once a year. It's fun. It's simple. And it doesn't matter if you have a team of 1 or 100. Each and every walker brings us one step closer to a cure. I hope you'll join us."
-Treg Charlton (right), Mid-America Chapter & Northern Ohio Chapter
“Hope for a cure comes in many forms. It comes in positive research updates. It comes in the passing of research related legislation. It comes in teeth chattering YouTube videos. It comes, every year, in the Walk to Defeat ALS.”
-Paul & Christian Carey, Central and Southern Ohio Chapter
"Our family walks so that ALL PALS and their families have access to a wonderful support group, to an equipment loan pool where they can obtain walkers, wheelchairs, and supplies, and to fight this disease on behalf of our husband and father, Michael Gagner who passed away in November 2013 from this dreaded disease."
-Stacy Inman, Golden West Chapter
"I've participated in the Walk to Defeat ALS for 6 years, with all my family and friends. Without this organization, Lonnie and I would be lost. Everyone that has a part of this, you are amazing. We all hope for a cure some day, and this Walk makes it closer for all of us to have hope."
-Susan and Lonnie Lunceford (left), Oregon and SW Washington Chapter
"I was asked why I am walking, and I think that is pretty obvious. I am a patient of ALS. I walk to find a cure!"
Devin Wardm (right), Arroyo Grande, CA, Devin’s Defeaters
"We walk because our Family has lost 7 members to ALS. We have the SOD1 gene in our family. Research and Advocacy are important to us because we are the next generation to be affected (23 grandchildren)."
-Ross Family Children & Grandchildren
"I walk so being diagnosed isn't automatically a death sentence. I walk so little kids won't have to see their once strong and vibrant parent or grandparent turn into a person who will never be the same as they were. I walk because after having two sisters taken from this disease, it is the right thing to do! I want to be able to say when a cure is found, I was a part of that!" "
-Maggie Ryan Abbe, Connecticut Chapter
“This year was our first year participating in the ALS Walk in honor of my father Clint Rudy who has had ALS for two years now. I wanted to get involved to be able to help raise money for a cure for this awful disease. Little did I know that signing up for this ALS Walk would be one of the biggest blessings. The day of the walk was amazing in Pittsburgh: we had 55 walkers that walked for my dad which meant so much to him and lifted his spirits. Our team raised $5,000, which I thought was pretty good for our first year. I will ALWAYS fight to raise money for this cause because of what they stand for and what they have done for my father and my family. Watching someone you love suffer from this disease and lose their quality of life little by little is truly heartbreaking. And even though this disease is so bad, we have truly gotten to see the best in humanity with how caring and helpful people can truly be. We look forward to the ALS Walk in 2017 for more memories to come.”
Heather Rudy | Clint Rudy’s Team (right) | Pittsburgh
"I walk so being diagnosed isn't automatically a death sentence. I walk so little kids won't have to see their once strong and vibrant parent or grandparent turn into a person who will never be the same as they were. I walk because after having two sisters taken from this disease, it is the right thing to do! I want to be able to say when a cure is found, I was a part of that!" "
-Maggie Ryan Abbe, Connecticut Chapter
"We walk in memory of our son Eric, who died of ALS at age 28 after a 9 year battle with the disease. As an intelligent and very young PALS, Eric understood that he was a powerful Advocate for all suffering with ALS, and could command the attention of our legislators in Washington DC. He made the annual pilgrimage to the ALS Public Policy conference every May from 2005 until 2009, when his failing health prohibited him from making the 14 hour drive to DC. He enjoyed meeting his legislators and asking for their support for bills that are important for all PALS, and appropriations for funding ALS research. But more than that, he loved attending a gathering of hundreds of other people with ALS and their family members, all united in their quest to help find a cure and rid the world of ALS.
With Eric now gone, his friends and family continue to support the Walk to Defeat ALS every year, which is our Alabama Chapter's largest single source of funds, so that we may honor Eric's memory and his tireless dedication to helping create awareness of ALS on Capitol Hill. We walk for our hero, Eric, whose life was shortened by ALS. We walk so other lives are not."
-Stuart Obermann (left), Alabama Chapter
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