The Event: More than 500 guests of the Les Turner ALS Foundation’s 28th annual gala showed that “Hope Through Caring” can truly make a difference. .
Hosted by author Jonathan Eig at the Ritz Carlton Chicago on March 7, the event honored executive director Wendy Abrams of Highland Park for her 36 years of service. Abrams is being succeeded by Andrea Pauls Backman of Glenview, an investment manager who lost her mother to ALS.
Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), affects more than 5,600 Americans.
Cause célebre: “I am very proud of all that we’ve built but I’m sad,” said Abrams of her departure insisting that she is not going far. “I plan to be involved and help and do what I can going forward (so) I am stepping down but I’m not stepping away.”
“We’ve made a lot of headway but we have a long way to go and we need everybody’s help and support to beat this nasty disease,” said Keith Van Horne of Riverwoods, former NFL offensive tackle and LTALSF spokesperson since 1991.
In 2014, the Skokie-based LTALSF was able to proffer a 10-million-dollar endowment to Northwestern Medicine in order to build the Les Turner ALS Research and Patient Center. Today, 90 percent of Chicago area ALS patients are seen through it and the Lois Insolia ALS Clinic.
“This put together our three research labs and our multi-disciplinary clinic,” explained Ken Hoffman of Deerfield, board president. “And the hope is that there will be translational medicine that goes from the research side directly to the treatment of patients.”
Bottom line: The event raised more than $520,000 for LTALSF.
