About six months ago, my good friend Chrise's husband Darrick endured an exhaustive battery of tests over the course of several months to determine the cause of a few unexplained falls and extreme muscle fatigue. The diagnosis came back that Darrick had ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, a progressive, degenerative disease of the nervous system.

ALS is one of a group of diseases, called motor neuron diseases (MND), in which specialized nerve cells that control movement of the voluntary muscles gradually cease functioning and die. In ALS and other motor neuron diseases, motor neurons gradually deteriorate, and because the nerve cells that stimulate them have died, the muscle tissues waste away. ALS progresses at different rates in each individual. The average survival for someone affected by ALS is three to five years, with a small percentage of people having a very slow progression and living 10-20 years with the illness at various levels of disability.

I am writing because I am running a half-marathon in May 2010 in Rockford, IL to help raise money for the Les Turner ALS Foundation, from which Darrick has received invaluable support and resources in the months since his diagnosis.The Les Turner ALS Foundation serves more than 600 patients annually, is one of the nation's largest independent ALS organizations and has raised more than $40 million to fight Lou Gehrig's disease.

This disease is not just affecting Darrick, his wife Chrise and their two young children, Clay and Kit. It has deeply affected their family and friends as they watch their loved one struggle with something that is, so far, beyond anyone's power to alleviate. It is my hope that through your generosity to this foundation, every stride that I make to raise money will help bring us one step closer to finding a cure for ALS, so that one day no one else will have to suffer from it. Please consider making a donation to this terribly important cause and keep Darrick and Chrise and their family in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you!!!