Walk to Defeat ALS Volunteers - Beckley

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The ALS Association - West Virginia is looking for caring, dedicated volunteers for the first ever in-person Walk to Defeat ALS this fall! We are looking for volunteers for some of the following roles. Please note this list is NOT all-inclusive:

• Fundraising volunteers - Do you have a knack for fundraising? Help us fund the mission!
• Sponsorship volunteers - Are you well connected with businesses? You could connect our mission with their corporate sponsorships!
• Entertainment volunteers - Do you hold the aux cord when the music comes on? Help us find the best entertainment for our event!
• Logistics volunteers - Do you have an eye for detail? You can spearhead our event layout and operations!
• Recruitment volunteers - Are you a beacon of influence in your social circle? Recruit fundraising volunteers and Walk teams!
• Public Relations/ Marketing - Are you a PR/marketing guru? Help us craft our message to the community to fight ALS!

What is ALS?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. There is no cure for ALS yet.

Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. They govern voluntary movements and muscle control.

ALS causes these motor neurons to degenerate over time until they eventually die. When the motor neurons die, the brain can no longer initiate and control muscle movement. When voluntary muscle action is progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe.

Who gets ALS?

Every 90 minutes, someone is diagnosed with the disease, and someone passes away from it.

Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. However, cases of the disease do occur in people in their twenties and thirties.

ALS is 20% more common in men than women. However, with increasing age, the incidence of ALS is more equal between men and women.

About 90% of ALS cases occur without any known family history or genetic cause. The remaining 5-10% of ALS cases - known as familial ALS (FALS) - are inherited through a mutated gene with a known connection to the disease.

For unknown reasons, military veterans are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease than the general public.