Lab employees walk for ALS
August 22, 2009, Bar Harbor - Two employees of The Jackson Laboratory (Jax) have been working with the ALS Association’s Northern New England Chapter to host the first Down East ALS walk, on Saturday, Aug. 23, at Hayford Park on 13th Street in Bangor.
ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. Carol Lamb and her mother Janice von Brook, both of whom are senior administrative assistants at Jax, teamed up for the effort. Ms. von Brook’s husband has ALS.
Registration will begin at 9 a.m., and the walk will start at 10 a.m. Dr. Greg Cox, an ALS researcher from Jax, will be a guest speaker.
The event’s planning committee, headed by Lisa Kingsbury of Bangor, is looking for volunteers, walkers and donors to participate. "We are hoping for a good turnout," Ms. Kingsbury said. "And our main goals are to increase awareness of the disease and raise funds that will go toward ALS research." Ms. Kingsbury’s husband Jim has ALS.
ALS is a progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease that slowly robs the body of its ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe. The life expectancy of an ALS patient averages two to five years from the time of diagnosis. Every 90 minutes someone in the United States is diagnosed with ALS, and every 90 minutes another person loses the battle against the disease.
