King Fire and Emergency Services takes on Ice Bucket Challenge

August 27, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Angela Gismondi
King firefighters dumped buckets of ice cold water on themselves to raise money and awareness for ALS.
About 40 King Fire and Emergency (KFES) staff took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge Saturday at the King City fire station. The event was organized in support of firefighter Dan Malone, whose father Jim Malone has ALS. It was also to honour fire captain Craig Eveson’s aunt Colleen, who lost her battle with the disease two years ago.
“We felt it was important to show that as a group we are there to support one another when the road gets rough,” said Eveson.
Over $2,000 was raised for the cause. The funds will be donated to the ALS Association.
A YouTube video of the event can be found at http://youtu.be/jVqCQf1M1-A.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known 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. Patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
The ALS Association is a national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The association’s mission includes providing care services to assist people with ALS and their families through a network of chapters working in communities across the nation and a global research program focused on the discovery of treatments and eventually a cure for the disease.
As of Monday, Aug. 25, The ALS Association received $79.7 million in donations compared to $2.5 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 25).
With files from www.alsa.org