The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is soaking the nation! And Shepley is no exception. We received a number of challenges, from employees and customers, so took the dare and soaked some of our team members!
We had fun joining the ranks of chilled, wet philanthropists, raising funds for ALS. But more importantly, we take the “raising funds” part seriously—so Shepley is matching all employee donations to ALS, in hopes of finding a cure. We challenge all the other lumber companies in Massachusetts to do the same!
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
Currently, there is only one drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ALS, which only modestly extends survival by two to three months. Consequently, ALS is 100 percent fatal. In addition to acclimating to the challenges that come with losing control of voluntary muscle movement, people with the disease progressively lose their ability to eat, speak, walk, and eventually breathe.
The ALS Association has received over $4 million from the Ice Bucket Challenge. That’s more than four times what they raised during the same period in 2013! Join the fight. Raise funds. Raise awareness.