If you are looking to do something audacious and meaningful this year, please join Team Trailblazers in supporting the ALS community and driving the search for effective prevention strategies, treatments and cures for ALS.

It’s easy to join our team and make a gift in support of Golden West’s mission priorities today, and it’s your involvement now that will yield the impact that we seek to have – ending ALS and moving the needle on unlocking the mysteries of neurodegenerative disease.  Together we can drive the innovation and community engagement needed to create a future without ALS, for all of us.

And if you don’t know much about ALS, here are some important facts:

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease that slowly robs a person of the ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe.  The average life expectancy of a person diagnosed with ALS is two to five years, and the diagnosis affects everyone in the household.
• ALS can strike anyone. Women and men of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds are at risk, and for unknown reasons, veterans are at twice the risk than civilians.  Only 10% of people diagnosed with ALS have a family history of the disease; 90% is “sporadic” or of an undetermined cause.
• This year marked a monumental medical milestone with the accelerated approval of Qalsody, an antisense oligonucleotide that targets SOD1 mRNA.  This achievement was made possible by brilliant and dedicated individuals who have devoted their lives and careers to advancing science, along with support from fundraising activities like this one!

So if you’d like to, please join Team Trailblazers and start raising funds and ALS awareness today! 

And if you can, please make donation today.  Your gift will make a difference!