S&A Helps Raise Awareness at Sixth Annual Cleveland Walk to D’Feet ALS®
On Sunday September 25, 2005, the ALS Association, Northern Ohio Chapter, hosted its Sixth Annual Cleveland Walk to D’Feet ALS®. The event took place at the beautiful Cuyahoga Community College Western Campus in Parma, Ohio. Nearly 1,500 individuals participated in the 2.5-mile walk. The event in Cleveland is one of three regional walks to help raise money to support local patient services and programs, as well as nationally funded research efforts. S&A’s own Eric Skidmore took part in the event as a Lou Gehrig look-a-like. “I really like to volunteer for the regional walks,” said Skidmore. “I meet families of loved-ones that have died or are ailing from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis . . . and help to perpetuate awareness of the disease,” said Skidmore. ALS is a fatal affliction that is commonly referred to as, “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. “If you want to know and understand the essence of life, then talk to an ALS patient or family member . . . invariably they will tell you ‘unity of family’,” added Skidmore. Participants in The Walk to D’Feet ALS® consist of teams of family and friends of a decedent or a patient of ALS. It is a way of perpetuating their memory and raise awareness of the diseases. Many teams create a team uniform using custom-made t-shirts or hats or by simply wearing a uniform color the day of the event. The teams donate funds which will support programs such as medical equipment loan banks, clinical consultation, educational exchange groups and in-home respite care.
“I normally have no problem with mingling with the teams and groups of people, however, a certain character, Slider [the mascot of the Cleveland Indians] always gives me a hard time. This year Slider stole my Yankees hat and blew his big yellow nose in it to the delight of many children,” concluded Skidmore.
