Dear Friends & Family,
It is time once again for the annual Napa Valley Ride to Defeat ALS on Sept. 18! We hope you'll consider joining us for a beautiful ride in the Napa Valley, and helping us raise funds for care services, public policy initiatives and research for a cure for ALS.
Miles is seven years into ALS and is doing amazingly well. His speech has slowed down, but he knows how to make himself understood (and he always has something interesting or funny to say!) He can't really walk anymore, but zips around the house in his power chair and uses his upper body strength to haul himself upstairs at night. He continues to engineer adaptations to enjoy life, including a lift to lower himself into his hot tub and a seat for his trail Segway. And he spends hours in his woodworking shop each day.
We just returned from a McConnell family reunion in Mexico—22 of us—and it was beautiful to see the cousins all lifting Miles into the pool and ocean for daily swims.
Miles is again the co-chair of the event and the face of the disease. More than ever, we feel the urgency in finding breakthroughs and hope for people with ALS. Promising new gene therapies are in the pipeline, but more funding is needed. Through your incredible generosity, we were able to raise close to a million dollars last year—making this the single largest ALS fundraising event in the country—and we hope to do it again.
With so much love,
Jane & Benita
Prefer to make a donation by check? Click here for a printable donation form!
