Provide Connection for People Living with ALS this Holiday Season

Make sure no one has to face ALS alone. Give by December 31!

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Connection, friendship, family… these are basic human needs. We take for granted our ability to connect with the people we love through movement, touch, and speech. For people living with ALS, isolation from the loss of those abilities is all too common.  

With your support, ALS Northwest makes sure no one faces this disease alone. We host hundreds of support groups annually online and in-person across the region. These meetings are valuable, intimate events where people with ALS and their family, friends and caregivers can connect with others who ‘get it.’ No type of discussion is off the table as people share challenges and adaptations, build new friendships, and exchange love and support.

But it takes a robust team to host these monthly meetings online and in Medford, Bend, Eugene, Hood River, Salem, Portland, and Vancouver – and we won’t be able to continue without your support.

That’s why I’m asking for your help today.

Your gift before December 31 will help close the funding gap, ensuring that community connections continue to grow for people living with ALS.

I want to share one special connection that was formed at a recent support group meeting. Dan Knopp was diagnosed with ALS in 2022. “I wanted a friend that has ALS,” Dan said. Damon Schrosk received his own ALS diagnosis two years later. Damon knew he would be good friends with Dan early on. “He showed up with burritos and I thought, ‘I like this guy.” They share a passion for the outdoors, and when Damon hosted an adaptive ALS tree climbing event, Dan was among several friends from ALS Northwest to attend. 

Caring donors helped fund the support group that brought these friends together. But right now, there are others like Dan and Damon who haven’t yet found that community.  

Donate now to protect community resources like support groups that help people not only live with ALS – but to live well with the disease.

“Getting to know others in the ALS community really helps me to be positive and move forward,” Dan shared. “Being around people that encourage me and care for me is living well.” 

And support groups are just the beginning – with your support, people living with ALS will also have access to the community connections provided by staff. Care Services Coordinators are not only a source of expert advice around the diagnosis itself; they’re also connectors, ready and able to build those connections between people in the ALS community.

“A week from diagnosis I had someone from ALS Northwest in my house,” Damon recalled. “And it’s been that same level of support ever since.” 

But without increased support, our Care Services team may not be able to reach every newly diagnosed person next year.  

That’s why your help is so urgent. 

Give before December 31 to ensure people living with ALS can access the care and connection they deserve.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from Dan and Damon’s story, it’s that community is quality of life. Your donation keeps that community alive. 

No one should have to face ALS alone — and your gift right now makes sure they won’t. 

P.S. Your donation goes even further when you choose to make it a monthly gift! Even $5/month helps a person living with ALS.