A SOUL TO SOLE EVENT

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Savor local flavors from top Kansas City chefs while feasting your eyes on the hottest shoes of the season.

“Step Up to the Plate for ALS” began five years ago as a private fund raiser for the ALS. Co-chairs Misty Brown-Fridkin and Lindsey Bjorseth Serrano both have been personally effected by ALS.

This will be the 4th year for this event. We took a year of because of the passing of our dear friend Bob Willson lost his battle with ALS May 17, 2010. Bob was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral scierosis), also know as Lou Gehrigs disease, in September of 2007. ALS is a progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease that slowly robs the body of its ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe.

Inspired by those fighting the disease, and in memory of loved ones who have lost their battle against ALS, this year’s chairs and co-chairs hope you will join us for an evening of hope and assist us in spreading the word among the generous and philanthropic hearts of our community.

We are so excited to have this years event will be held at the brand new LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Along with the brand new venue comes the addition of proje5t for ALS partnership with Step Up To The Plate Event. All of the proceeds from this event will be given to ALS Research through proje5t. We are delighted to have some of Kansas City’s Top Chefs joining us again so save room on your plate for this year’s party. We hope that you will join our families and friends and “Step Up To The Plate” In honor of a great cause-ALS.

DINE-AROUND THE ROOM WITH TOP CHEFS

Alex Pope
Charles d’Ablaing
Marshall Roth
Renee Kelly
Peter Grunauer
Confectionary Creations by Pastry Chef Carter Holton
Winner of Food Network Food Challenge

Enjoy Live Music, Wine and Beer

What is ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to 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 lead to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

ABOUT PROJE5T FOR ALS

Proje5t for ALS has been founded to identify and fund translational Amyotrophic Lateral Scierosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) research projects.

All donations to Proje5t for ALS will support its mission of improving the lives of people with this neurodegenerative disorder by promoting collaborative, translational research.

This idea of doing this kind of funding is unique. Most non-profits help many levels of their organization. Our focus is to raise money and give it directly to research projects. It’s that simple. We have no employees, and little overhead, so the donations that you give to support this foundation will go directly to finding a cure for ALS.

PERSONAL CONNECTION

Our friend Bob Willson was diagnosed with ALS in September 2007. The disease slowly robbed Bob’s ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe.

Bob lost his battle with ALS on May 17, 2010. It is the mission of Proje5t for ALS to continue Bob’s vision of creating a Fifty million organization to help find a cure.

“You can give up or you can keep
going. I have an obligation to teach
my kids that when something bad
happens to you, you need to be
tough and go as long as you can
and as hard as you can,” Bob said.
“This disease is solvable. I probably
won’t make it to the finish line, but
we will win against ALS someday.”

Bob Willson

THE NEED FOR A CURE IS TREMENDOUS!

Federal funding for research and development into treatments for neurological disorders (like ALS)significantly lags the funding earmarked for diseases like AIDS and cancer.

While the federal government, through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds 36 percent of all U.S. medical research, only .5 percent of those funds are earmarked for research into neurodegenerative diseases by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS).

After several years of expansion, the NIH is about to experience slow or no growth. As a result, it is anticipated that only about 15 percent of approved NIH grants will actually be funded, and this number may be lower still in the next few years.

More broadly, NIH funding is less than 1 percent of total federal expenditures and just .5 percent of the total economic cost of illness in the U.S.

Disorders of the nervous system are the most common causes of disability for people of all ages. More than 50 million Americans have a permanent neurological disability that limits their daily activities; many are progressive or even fatal and the numbers keep growing.

There are multiple levels of aggressiveness within ALS, but only half of all patients make it more than three years. That’s a statistic that can discourage doctors, and one can only imagine how it makes patients feel. Bob Willson utilized his great support network of colleagues, friends and family as motivation to lead the fight toward finding a cure.

For more information, please visit us at www.project5forals.org