Honoring Evelyn Blanton
At our Drive Out ALS event on January 29th, Amy Lynn Clark, Director of Development for the Greater Triangle Area, presented the 2nd Annual Chris Combs Courage and Community Award to Evelyn Blanton and family for Evelyn’s dedication to brining awareness to ALS. Evelyn is a passionate advocate for ALS in honor of her son, Michael Blanton, who passed away from ALS in 2008.
Evelyn has her own ‘Grandma Coolidge’ truck that responds to calls in the Fayetteville area. A portion of the proceeds from this truck is donated to us at ALS United North Carolina and directly supports our mission. The Grandma Coolidge truck is more than a truck, it is a commitment to the ongoing fight against ALS.
We are inspired by Evelyn’s dedication to honoring her son, and the continued support of Blanton’s Air, Plumbing & Electric is a testament to who they are as a local business.
Statewide Care Through ALS Clinics
Multidisciplinary ALS clinics are considered the “gold standard” of care.
At ALS United North Carolina, we believe that people living with ALS deserve the highest quality of care. That is why we are invest in multidisciplinary ALS clinics across the state to make sure that every person diagnosed with ALS has a care option close to them. We support six multidisciplinary ALS clinics and work closely with the Salisbury VA Multidisciplinary ALS Clinic. These clinics provide a full team of care from a host of different medical specialties, including a Neurologist, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, Respiratory Therapist, Dietitian, Speech Language Pathologist, and Physical Therapist.
Each clinic also has a Care Services Coordinator from our staff. Our Care Services staff are a part of each clinic treatment team and help connect people living with ALS to valuable resources, provide education on various topics related to ALS, and ensure that everyone living with this disease knows that they are not alone.
Multidisciplinary clinics are shown to extend and improve quality of life. We feel lucky to partner with such amazing clinics and clinicians that work hard every day to offer care, hope, and guidance to those affected by ALS.
All 2025 Walk Dates Are Live
Mark your calendars and get ready to walk, fundraise, or volunteer with us.
- April 26th, 2025: Walk ALS Triangle
- May 17th, 2025: Walk ALS Down East
- June 7th, 2025: Walk ALS Winston-Salem
- October 18th, 2025: Walk ALS Greensboro
- October 25th, 2025: Walk ALS Wilmington
- November 1st, 2025: Walk ALS Charlotte
Enter our T-Shirt Design Contest
We are accepting t-shirt designs for our 2025 Walk ALS T-shirts!
Follow these rules and guidelines below to enter your design:
1. All designs must be original to you! Please do not use designs that are another artist’s work or have been used elsewhere.
2. Designs must incorporate our 2025 tagline- “United we step, stroll, and roll” – and include our brand colors of orange, yellow, and blue.
3. Designs must be submitted in a pdf, png, or vector format and can be emailed to walk@alsnc.org
The deadline to submit a design for our t-shirt contest is Friday, February 28th. Anyone is eligible to submit a design to the contest. The individual who submits the winning design will receive a $50 gift card and a framed T-Shirt.
Announcing Our 2025 Walk Theme!
Hint: It is each of YOU!
While we know dressing up in outfits from the 80s and as your favorite Hollywood star is fun, our theme is going to look a little different this year… We all walk for a reason and we want to honor those lost to ALS and the battle that many are still fighting. We want to keep the memories alive and create an atmosphere of hope. This walk season, we are asking for you and your team to dress up in a way that pays homage to those that we know and love affected by ALS. You can do that by:
- Creating a team shirt
- Dressing up like your loved one
- Wearing your loved ones favorite color
- Channeling their hobbies, music taste, etc. in your team attire
- Creating signs with quotes, pictures, or sentiments
These are only suggestions, do what feels best for you and your team! We cannot wait to see the ways in which each of you show up. Our stories, loved ones, and experiences are important in the fight against ALS so help us bring awareness by telling your team’s story.
Are you interested in hosting a community partner event?
Turn your interests and passions into opportunities to raise funds and awareness to help defeat ALS! Pick any activity that’s right for you, and recruit family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and classmates to join you in making an impact. Anytime, anywhere, you can create a fun and inspirational event or join an existing event in support of care, cures, and community.
ALS United North Carolina can provide the guidance you need to help you plan, promote, and manage your fundraiser. Start with an idea, we can help you create and customize a website page where you can share your story, photos, event information, and then recruit others to join you or donate in support of your efforts.
Hear from Ivy Porter, a high school senior, about her experience hosting a Golf Tournament this past month called Swing for a Cure:
” I hosted an ALS dinner and silent auction in hopes to raise both money and awareness for the terrible disease. My cousin, Leah Cromwell, was diagnosed with ALS when she was 25 and it has drastically gotten worse. She can no longer walk, speak, or even move her arms in just 18 months. Seeing this firsthand and how it is affecting my entire family encouraged me to do something to make a difference.
Unfortunately, my original plan of a golf tournament got cancelled, but we were still able to have a very successful banquet style dinner catered by a local restaurant. We collected monetary and prize donations from friends, local businesses, large companies, and more to be able to make this event successful. I ended up raising a little over $8000 from donations, raffle tickets, and silent auctions. This is way more than my family and I anticipated or could ever ask for and I am so happy to be able to donate this money to such a great cause.”
If you are interested in learning more about community partner events or hosting a community partner event, please email events@alsnc.org.
Upcoming Events:
March 2, 2025: ALS Awareness Night at the Carolina Hurricanes
April 26, 2025: Walk ALS Triangle
May 8, 2025: ALS Topgolf Challenge Charlotte
May 17, 2025: Walk ALS Down East
June 7, 2025: Walk ALS Winston Salem
October 18, 2025: Walk ALS Greensboro
October 25, 2025: Walk ALS Wilmington
November 1, 2025: Walk ALS Charlotte
Visit our ONLINE CALENDAR for updated community events and support groups. Questions? Email info@alsnc.org.