WALK TO DEFEAT ALS
american home and other local vendors help raise money for als
American Home, Furniture & Mattress owner KentonVan Harten has seen firsthand what the ravages of ALS disease can do. One of his best friends in Los Angeles is afflicted with the disease.
about als
His friend, who is living at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, is able to maintain a high quality of life because of those living arrangements. Sadly, not everybody has those means. “I look at so many people who even on a good day are lacking so many resources,” Van Harten said. “Their bodies get to the point where they literally can’t do anything for themselves. They need a tremendous amount of resources, so I wanted to do what I can to make their lives better. That’s why American Home has become one of the major sponsors for the local chapter of the ALS Association’s Walk to Defeat ALS, which includes two laps around the outside of Isotopes Park on Sunday.
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 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 demise. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe.“It leaves the brain unaffected, but the body wastes away,” Van Harten said.
getting involved
Two years ago, he decided he needed to become involved in his adopted home of Albuquerque, and was asked to join the local ALS Association’s board of directors. “Then I was complaining that we didn’t raise enough money at the walk last year,” Van Harten said. “So they made me vice president and chairman of sponsorship.” He also put his money where his mouth is, encouraging and helping one of American Home’s leading vendor Tempur-Pedic Mattresses to donate 75 queen-size beds. One bed will go to each of the walking teams that raised $10,000 to do with as they please, whether that be as a gift to the afflicted person, or for the caregiver or maybe even to give back to the ALS Association. The remaining beds will go toward people that need it, he said.
In addition, the company has kicked in $10,000, and company employees have been raising money through a partnership with Fuddrucker’s Restaurant. Another clever way they are helping is with the “Clean the Couch” program, used to encourage employees to bring in their change jars as donations.
the walk
The walk last year raised $173,000 and the goal this year is to top that by reaching $180,000, said Katie Crouch, ALS Association event coordinator. “Last year our goal was $160,000 and we surpassed that so it was a very, very successful event,” she said. “This year we would obviously like to surpass that goal.” About 1,300 walkers took part in strolling to what amounted to about three miles. The organization is hoping to top that and is encouraging people to come out and commit to the walk. “If people register and get a team together, get their team registered, and there is still a lot of fundraising that happens post walk,” Crouch said. “Walk day is the day set to celebrate everybody and their efforts, but people can still donate to those in the walk.
Extend that a little bit to use fire and energy of the walk to generate more funds.” This year, there’s a new twist, as well, with a post-walk festival in the UNM football parking lot with food vendors on hand, jumpers for the kids, mariachi music and plenty of other surprises, she said. American Home’s involvement, as well as that of other businesses in the community, have meant a great deal to the organization, Crouch said. “We’ve increased our sponsorship quite significantly, thanks to Kenton,” he added. Auto dealer Bob Pitre is also on the board and has been very involved.