Greeting!

As my favorite Yankee baseball player once said, "...today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth," many Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) sufferers, like Lou Gerhig and my mother-Rowena Wassam, felt this way about life even after being diagnosed with this progressive neurodegenerative disease. They managed to always stay positive and not lose sight and hope for a cure in the future. Their bravery continues to be remembered as ledgendary and admirable.

I have chosen to run the Walt Disney World's 4 Race Dopey Challenge, in Orlando, Florida to raise money for the ALS Western PA Chapter for ALS research, and also to honor my mother- Rowena Wassam, who died from ALS in 1993.

I have selected this unique race for several reasons. First, I have selected it for the difficulty of the race which requires participants to run a 5K race on Thursday, January 8th, a 10K race on Friday, January 9th, a Half Marathon on Saturday, January 10th, and a Full Marathon on Sunday, January 11th. This is a total of 48.6 miles! My mother was committed to particiapting in very difficult and extensive testings at The Cleveland Clinic and was a member of a clinic study group during her struggle and fight with ALS. She wanted to be part of the study, to help others and to be a part of finding a cure. I feel that this particular race is symbolic of the many challenges that she faced with the progression of the disease. The other reason that I selelcted this race is because my mother loved Disney World. My family had created so many wonderful memories there through the years.

It is very important to donate to this cause because 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. Although there are 3 different forms of the disease, the most common form can affect anyone and at any time. There are 15 new cases diagnosed each day, and it affects 5,600 people each year. Caring people like you are needed to help others face difficult challenges. ALS does not just impact the individual with the disease, but it impacts all those around the individual.

This leads me to show the way that one individual can truly bless your life.

Memories of my mom-

*Swim days in our backyard and movie nights that followed while watching Grease- She always made our days and nights memorable.

*Working at Toys R Us together when I was in high school and sharing our lunch breaks at Shorty's diner at the Washington Mall-She always made work fun.

*Curled up side by side in her favorite chair working through my Warner's English Grammar Book homework- She always made learning fun.

*Taking me to tap, ballet, and jazz classes at Vella's Dance Studio year after year & sitting with a smile on her face as she watched me dance-She always made me feel like a princess.

*Talking heart to heart, sitting on my bed while playing our favorite Bee Gee and Neil Diamond songs-She always made my silly childhood problems seem important and solvable. I never felt alone.

*Shopping for clothes and having a "fashion show" in the dressing rooms-She always made me feel like a model.

*Taking family vacations to Daytona Beach and Disney World, riding Magic Kingdom ride after ride and ending the day with one of her favorite rides -Peter Pan-because we loved to fly! Eatiing mickey mouse ice cream & buying just one more stuffed animal at the giftshop was a must!- She always made vacations magical.

Please consider donating to my ALS One Dollar Difference link to aid research for finding a cure and give hope to those suffering from the diease and their families. Thank you in advance. Your support means so much to me.

If you do not want to donate online, you can download an offline donation form by clicking here.