ABOUT THE RUN

Who Will Benefit?
The ALS Association: About half of the money raised goes to the ALS Association, MDA, and Jack Orchard ALS Foundation. The ALS Association, St. Louis Regional Chapter was founded to serve ALS patients and their families. The Association continues to focus on patient services with an additional emphasis on public awareness, community/professional education, advocacy, and research. The Jack Orchard Foundation uses the money in a variety of ways to help those affected with ALS. A sub-foundation of theirs is called Extra Hands for ALS. This program places student and adult volunteers into homes of people affected with ALS. The volunteers help with simple house chores (dishes, laundry, walking dogs, etc.) so the family can spend time together instead of doing housework. The volunteers are also trained to be emotional support blocks, often providing companionship for the victim and their family. This program was developed to ease the sense of the family being overwhelmed and to create a network of people to build public awareness of ALS. Second, the Jack Orchard Foundation is also doing research to find a cure and to find medicine to help ease the symptoms to improve the quality of life for patients. They have been successful in the past with various drugs and are excited to continue the hunt for more ways to help find an end ALS.

Who Gets ALS?
5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed with ALS each year. 60% of the people diagnosed are men and 93% of the people are Caucasian. Most cases occur in patients between the ages of forty and seventy. 90% of diagnosed cases have no hereditary cause and are just an isolated case.

Is There Treatment?
There is no cure for ALS, only remedies to prolong life or to improve the quality of life. Drugs such as Rilutek are used to maintain function of muscles and prolong life. It is important to remember that ALS does not affect the mind so treatments to help improve the quality of life are critical.