Help us reach our year end goal

Dear Friends,

We are grateful for this opportunity to update you on ALS Ride For Life and how we continue to grow in response to the needs expressed by our patients with ALS, or pALS, as we call them.

Our mission focuses on patient services, research, and education, which are all extremely important and interconnected. But it’s our patient services and how we directly support our pALS and their families - that’s the heart of our work, helping us maximize that interconnection while inspiring our fundraising efforts. The collaborative support from community partners and businesses helps us positively impact the lives of all pALS seeking our services.

ALS is a terminal and unpredictable disease. Helping patients and families cope with these concepts individually has shaped our approach to patient services. For instance, with our Mobility Matters Program, we are the only ALS organization in our region to offer BOTH a rental assistance program and the gift of exclusive use of our wheelchair-accessible vans to enhance the challenged lives of pALS and their families. Thanks to the support of so many, we have been able to continue providing these services, but each year, it becomes more challenging as the need grows.

The unpredictable progression of ALS motivates us to be innovative with programs that best respond to pALS requests, helping them to cope while preparing for the inevitable, and sometimes rapid, health changes.

The Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence at Stony Brook assists patients medically from the onset of their diagnosis to the end of life. We augment pALS medical support with our Plan For Life program, helping them focus on legal affairs, and our Care For Life program, designed to provide financial assistance for respite care. Other ALS Ride For Life programs include our Caregiver Support Group, a College Scholarship Program (for students whose lives have been affected by ALS), and our new End-of-Life Doula support program, which assists families as they move through the final portion of their loved one’s life.

Now, in our 27th year, the success of our programs has grown to garner local and national community support while maintaining fiscal responsibility. We have negotiated office space that is free of charge, enabling our overhead to be minimal. With a small staff of two, an active board, and many volunteers, we strive to ensure that the vast majority of every dollar raised directly benefits pALS as we work to MAINTAIN and GROW our mission.

YOUR GIFT TODAY will go a long way in supporting our 2024 efforts!

We wish you and your family many blessings and Happy Holidays!

Ray Manzoni, President & Chairman, Marilyn Sloan, Executive Director, and the entire ALS Ride For Life Family