Claire's Bro Phil's Story
Please join me in the fundraising effort for this organization
So why raise funds for MAC Angels? To honor my sister Claire Gormley Collier and her spirit: “Don’t GIVE UP … So others may live.”
“I wanted to join, to make a difference for other PALS and their families.”
And he has. To honor all those who find their limbs and speech rendered useless by ALS, Phil pushes himself to the limit. This month he’ll ride 270 miles with the MAC Angels team in the ALSTDI Tri-State Trek to raise money for both the ALS Therapy Development Institute and also MAC Angels. As a board member, Phil sees his responsibility very clearly: First and foremost, he wants to raise awareness for ALS and for MAC Angels. And then there’s assisting in fundraising and developing synergies with other ALS organizations such as the Blazeman Foundation, Team Christie, Ride for Life, and ALSTDI. Who does he do this for? Claire and Shane, Jon and Roger, and Chris, Sharron, Christie, he says, and so many other PALS who have been so inspirational in their fight and in their example.
“It’s my belief that MAC Angels can help bring comfort and support to families living with ALS. If we can help to bring a portion of the grace and dignity that Claire demonstrated to other families, then we have succeeded in carrying on her legacy,” Phil says of his sister.
“This disease is unlike any other. The challenges that a family faces are insurmountable and devastating,” Phil says. “Our support will help bring relief to some of those challenges.”
Going forward in his athletic pursuits, Phil keeps uppermost in his mind the spirit that his sister Claire maintained throughout her illness—“Don’t GIVE UP…. So others may live”—and the three important tasks at hand: “I’m trying to keep Claire’s goals of raising awareness for ALS, helping families with ALS (as so many did for my sister when she and her family needed it), and finding a cure for ALS.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqSBKGXGDGw
Jon Blais' story...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyZ0IJdplh0
