The ALS Walk To Defeat is this week in Broward County, on Saturday, April 6th.
The walk will take place at Vista View Park in Davie, FL, and is approximately a one-mile walk. Join a team, create a team, or run as an individual, and help raise money for ALS Awareness.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a nervous system disease that affects a person’s physical functions and weakens the muscles.
People that are affected by this disease are usually between the ages of 40 and 70. Typically 20,000 people have this disease at a specific time.
Currently, there’s no cure to ALS, but the ALS Association has made significant progress in researching what causes this disease.
What You Need to Know About ALS
According to the ALS Association, this disease can prevent the ability of different things including speaking, swallowing, walking, breathing and more. What is difficult is they diagnose patients with ALS by counting out other diseases. This process can take months upon years to finally diagnose someone.
Those who are diagnosed with ALS, have a life expectancy of two to five years. As it seems, this can be extremely difficult on a family and the patient. Every 90 minutes, someone loses their life to ALS.
The cost of treating ALS can be very pricey. The average out-of-pocket cost to treat someone with ALS is approximately $250,000. To show how expensive this disease can be, it is estimated a large $2 billion would be the cost to find a drug to slow down or completely stop ALS from progressing.
Treating ALS is very difficult and expensive, so it’s important that people come out and support these walks in their community. The better the participation, the better the chance of winning this fight.
The ALS Association puts the money donated towards research programs and helping ALS patients maintain the devices they need. In fact, the ALS Association is the largest non-profit organization to fund ALS research outside of the U.S. government.
Walk in Broward County
There are different walks constantly throughout the fall and spring months. On April 6th, it’s time for Broward County to show how they can help the ALS Association.
The Walk to Defeat in Broward County gives an opportunity for people to raise money for ALS research, by creating teams, and even having the chance to raise enough money for a t-shirt.
There are also volunteer opportunities, for those wanting to help set up and work the actual event. On their website, there’s a form to fill out if interested.
There is no fee to participate, but attendees are encouraged to raise money to help the cause. Even if you can’t make the event, you can sign up as a virtual walker. These individuals can register to be on a team or as an individual, and help raise money for ALS research.
Overall, this is a fun event for a good cause that you can spend a morning with friends and family.
The ALS Association has put out a goal of raising $120,000 for this event. Currently, there has been $36,520 rose, which is just over 30% of the goal. While it seems like a lot, this goal can be achieved with hard work and by spreading the word.
So, if you have someone that you know has or had ALS, join the movement and walk for them. Maybe you want to walk for the sake of helping people. It all goes to a great cause which helps promote positivity.
Ability Medical Supply is one of the local sponsors of the event and can be seen at the walk. So, if you see us, say hi!
For more information, go to http://web.alsa.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=13536. To donate to the Ability Medical Supply team, you can also click here.
