(Imagine the room filled with fruits and vegetables.)

Good Evening!

 

On behalf of the Rochester & Buffalo MDA, I’m honored to speak with you – employees and friends of ACOSTA. Your generous, national support to find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy, has totaled over $75 million dollars, since the inception of your Aisles of Smiles Campaign in 1985.

 

The Aisles of Smiles has, at its roots, a simple idea born out of a father’s desire to raise funding and awareness about his son’s disease.

From something simple come great things.

I’m so grateful that many of you came out today to participate in this year’s golf tournament at Cobblestone. Over 130 participants have raised more than $125,000 for the Buffalo and Rochester area.

 

What I’d like to do is to make a connection between the dollars you have raised, to the people affected by neurological diseases.

 

Illness affects everyone around them – children and adults alike.

 

In my case, I was diagnosed with ALS in April 2010 – and I can assure you, my disease affects my friends, my family, and especially, my six year old daughter.

Since ALS is a progressive illness, I need constant monitoring from a variety of doctors and specialists, as they check and maintain what nerve health I still have.

 

I know it sounds daunting – there is still no cure for ALS, however, the treatment is constantly changing and improving. A real breakthrough for treating ALS can be seen at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

An ALS clinic is held every month.  The structure of the clinic is an amazingly simple and humane concept: have all of the specialists meet in one place with me, rather than me go to them. In a few hours, my Neurological Team has an accurate snapshot of my condition.

It is a collaborative approach to medicine. And it’s a real convenience for me.

 

From something simple come great things.

Collecting and maintaining the best and the brightest for my Team isn’t cheap. Neither is the support they need to stay on top of this disease. The financial support you provide, is making a difference to finding a cure – and to those affected with ALS, like me.

 

Financial support has the effect of providing care to my family as well…

Recently, I attended another MDA event.  I was able to personally thank a generous donor for a grant to install a stair lift in my home. It’s a miracle device that has given me back my independence and it also gave me back access to my home.

But most importantly, it gave me an insight into my daughter’s view of this illness.

After I thanked her, my 6 year old went up to her and said:

 

“Thank you for my mommy’s chair. Now she can float upstairs like an angel!”

 

From something simple come great things:

The healing power of your time and support really do make a difference.

 

They give us a chance to hold onto our dignity and our sense of normalcy.

We can be active family members – and to witness them at their best.

In the case of my daughter, her simple observation was not of sadness or pity, but of happiness and gratitude.

 

My prognosis has been lengthened from months to years. With this extra time, the MDA, and the continuing support of all of you, I will succeed in my simple goal:

I will see my six year old daughter graduate from high school.

Thank you.