Raise your hand if you’ve joined the ALS charity ice bucket challenge?!

One of the greatest aspects of working with Gals That Give Charity is that you to consistently learn about charities and organizations dedicated to supporting our neighbors when they need it most. We hope to  create awareness of these charities and in turn, build a stronger community. If you have been watching the news or browsing social media in the past few weeks, you are familiar with the viral charity ice bucket challenge. Proven to be successful in just a few weeks, the general public is much more aware of the ALS disease, patients are enjoying watching the challenges and the growing efforts have raised over 88.5 million dollars nationwide and over 238,000 dollars in our local chapter.

It is never too late to donate! The ladies of Gals That Give Charity were nominated individually so we decided to do the challenge and donate to the ALS Association together. We had fun dumping ice water on the next gal’s head but the ultimate goal is to help spread awareness and raise funds for our local ALS Association Chapter. In this post you’ll find our Gals That Give Charity Ice Bucket Challenge video, contact information for the local chapter and upcoming events that benefit ALS.  I’d also like to introduce you to an inspiring young lady from Delaware that is going the extra mile to defeat ALS in Rehoboth, Delaware next month.

Meet Kayla Wilson Kayla Wilson is an 11 year old ALS advocate from Clayton, Delaware. She first found out about ALS when she learned about the baseball player, Lou Gehgrig in a book at school. Impacted by the story of Lou Gehgrig’s fight against this life threatening disease, she made a point to keep researching ALS to learn more about it. It was just shortly after that Kayla’s parents told her that her Aunt Pam was in fact struggling with ALS. Moved by this news, Kayla searched for ways to help and joined the Rehoboth Beach Walk to Defeat ALS. She set a goal to be the Top Youth Fundraiser and raised just over $1,100 by going door to door, talking with friends, coaches, parents and anyone she could educate about the cause. Kayla became involved with the local ALS advocates to meet with Delaware State Representatives to discuss funding for ALS patient services. The day that Kayla visited the State House she wore her Walk to Defeat ALS shirt proudly and received a standing ovation after sharing her account of her Aunt Pam’s struggle with ALS. This year’s walk is September 13th and it will be Kayla’s first walk without her Aunt Pam. She has continued her efforts to raise awareness and funds for ALS research by hosting an event at her local nutrition store and raising her goal to $7,000. I truly admire Kayla for her compassion and dedication so I will be donating to ALS through her team to show support and cheer on her efforts to help raise awareness for ALS research year round in our area. If there is still time to donate to Kayla’s efforts, I hope you’ll consider it too!

  Gals That Give Charity accepted the ALS Charity Ice Bucket Challenge!  

We happily pass the charity ice bucket challenge to the following Delaware non-profits & one super supporter! If you aren’t familiar with the charities listed below, feel free to click their name to learn more about what they do for our state. – Purrfect Haven Cat Rescue, past beneficiary – Cancer Support Community Delaware, past beneficiary – Beehive Beauty Shop, first official event sponsor – Central Delaware Habitat for Humanity, our September beneficiary! – 3B: Brae’s Brown Bags, a young Delawarean making a difference in our state!   Rehoboth Beach Walk to Defeat ALS®   Saturday, September 13, 2014 Location: The Boardwalk at “The Bandstand”, Rehoboth, Delaware Registration: 8:00 am, Walk Starts 9:30 am   ALS Contact Information for Delaware: ALS Association of Greater Philadelphia Serves Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, Central and Southern New Jersey, and Delaware. Chapter Contact: Ashley Hendrix, Email: Ashley (@) alsphiladelphia (.) org Phone: (215) 643-5434 Address: The ALS Association, 321 Norristown Rd. Suite 260, Ambler, PA 19002   Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)  From the ALS Association website.

Just what is ALS? Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease, first described in 1869 by the noted French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Although the cause of ALS is not completely understood, the last decade has brought a wealth of new scientific understanding about the disease that provides hope for the future. Lou Gehrig first brought national and international attention to the disease in 1939 when he abruptly retired from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS. Most commonly, the disease strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70, and as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that usually attacks both upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord. A common first symptom is a painless weakness in a hand, foot, arm or leg, which occurs in more than half of all cases. Other early symptoms include speech, swallowing or walking difficulty. A smaller percentage of people with ALS may also experience symptoms resulting from degeneration in parts of the brain which control thinking, behavior, and language skills. Read more about ALS here.

Did you participate in the charity ice bucket challenge? What did you learn from your experience?