Eastern Michigan University seniors Carolynn Cribley and Monica Christensen hosted Dine to Donate at Aubree’s Pizzeria & Grill in Ypsilanti, located at 39 E. Cross St., where they raised about $71 for the Michigan Chapter of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association.
Red ALS wristbands were distributed as Christensen explained the significance of “I Have A Voice,” and its goal of distributing tablets to those who can no longer speak because of the disease.
“Carolynn’s idea of ‘I Have A Voice’ is whatever money gets raised will go towards buying new iPads, and would be loaned out to the patients who are associated within the organization,” Christensen said.
The project has been a way for Christensen to honor her uncle, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2007 and died in 2010.
“When me and my current husband [Kevin] began dating was around the time of his diagnosis, and it was rough to get that kind of news,” Christensen said.
ALS is better known to most people as Lou Gehrig’s disease because of the attention the former New York Yankee gave to it by announcing his sudden retirement from Major League Baseball on July 4, 1939.
Gehrig’s speech on the same day became known as “The luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”
The speech signaled the end of a career, but it made more of the public aware of what ALS is and its effects.
ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks both the upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord.
The average lifespan after initial diagnosis is two to five years.
Only 20 percent of the patients live five years or more, up to 10 percent will survive more than 10 years and 5 percent living 20 years or more.
The imminent ending of the diagnosed patients’ lives makes it more important for Executive Director of the East Michigan Branch of the ALS Association, Paula Morning, to get awareness out to as many people as possible.
“This disease does not have any barriers as it affects every race and gender,” Morning said.
She said those afflicted begin to lose their ability to walk and use their limbs.
“Then, you lose your voice and eventually will be left in a body that cannot function with the exception of the brain,” she said.
There are a number of ways in which EMU students can get involved with the ALS Association.
“We have special event interns, internships every summer, support groups and the largest ALS certified clinic in the country at the University of Michigan,” Morning said.
“The organization is very blessed because we understand how difficult it is,” Morning said. “And a lot of the patients from the time that they have left do exactly what anyone else would do and that is to advocate for themselves and others. At the end of the day, we still need the assistance to get the word out to the general public about ALS.”
Cribley and Christensen raised $1,376.61 since beginning the project for their communication capstone class on Jan. 3.
For more information about the ALS Association contact Paula Morning at 248-680-6540 or email her at pmorning@alsa-michigan.org.
