photo by Júlia Pàmies ALS teams and walkers participated in activities such as the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for ALS on Saturday at Point State Park. The event exceeded its goal and achieved a total of $641,600.37.
Anthony “Bud” Hackimer was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in April 2012. On Sept. 6, 2014, Bud, along with his family and friends, participated in the 22nd annual Walk to Defeat ALS at Point State Park.
“It’s hard to watch someone who is such a strong figure in your life go through something like this,” said Amie Hackimer, Bud’s daughter, Point Park alumna and volunteer coordinator chair for the local chapter of the ALS Association.
Amie Hackimer began volunteering for the ALS association after her dad was diagnosed in 2012. She started a team known as “Nutty Buddies,” named by Bud, with her family and friends to support research for ALS and has been participating in the annual walk since 2012.
“It’s hard not to lose hope,” Amie Hackimer said in a phone interview after the walk. “The walk is there to help them enjoy the life they have left.”
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a “neurodegenerative disease that usually attacks the upper and lower motor neurons and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord,” according to the ALS Association’s website.
Bud is a test patient for ALS research. He can no longer talk, walk or eat on his own, according to his daughter. Donating to the Association helps to provide patients like Bud with equipment such as wheelchairs, feeding tubes and other necessities for patients with the disease.
The walk to defeat ALS started in Pittsburgh in 1982, and the Point State Park walk is the association’s signature event, this year having the best turnout to date according to Kristi Marsili, director of marketing and fundraising events at the ALS Association. This year also coincides with the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s diagnosis, according to Marsili.
More than 3,000 people were in attendance at the walk, and the donation goal of $500,000 was surpassed before the day of the event, reaching about $650,000 according to Christi Kolarcik, vice chair of the local chapter of the ALS Association and ALS researcher at Pitt.
Point Park University also played a part in the event, with about 15 students getting involved through volunteering, according to Thad Covaleski, president of the Honors Student Organization (HSO) and treasurer of the United Student Government (USG).
“Amie was a fellow USG member and she contacted me via e-mail,” Covaleski said in a phone interview after the walk.
Covaleski recruited volunteers through the organizations he is part of.
Also at the walk, over 100 people stepped up to take the ice bucket challenge to help support funding for the disease.
Kolarcik feels the challenge brought a new hope for the future of ALS research.
“The ice bucket challenge got people talking,” Kolarcik said at the walk.
Kolarcik said that the challenge helped raise public awareness of the disease, which she feels was understated before the challenge gained prominence.
“It really makes you feel less isolated,” Kolarcik said.
“My best advice is to get involved,” Amie Hackimer said. “Get involved, give back, and be there for my dad.”
To get involved with the association, or to donate money to research, go to cure4als.com.