Gary Sullivan was a beloved teacher and guidance counselor in Sanford, Maine. Years ago, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. This debilitating disease affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. ALS gets worse over time, but that didn’t stop Sullivan from visiting English teacher and Community Service Club co-advisor Kelly Giguere’s tenth grade English class every year to talk about the disease.
“Many sophomores read the book Tuesdays with Morrie, and years ago I reached out to the ALS Association to see if anybody who was battling ALS would be willing to come in and talk with us about what it’s like to live with this disease, which is how I met Gary,” Giguere said.
Gary had the type of ALS where he lived seven years with the disease, while most people upon diagnosis only live about two to five years.
“Like Morrie, Gary had a very positive way of looking at life and instead of letting the disease overtake him and looking at what limited time he had, he looked at what he wanted to make with the time left that he had,” Giguere said.
The Community Service Club recognizes how awful this disease is on the people diagnosed and the people around them. So every year they put on an ALS Walk to raise money and awareness about ALS, and 100 percent of the proceeds goes to the ALS Association.
“Two ways the ALS Association uses the money we raise is one, through research and two, through helping families who are battling ALS by providing any equipment they may need, because part of the disease also takes a person’s voice so they may need [machines that talk for them] and people eventually need feeding tubes. It’s a lot on the family,” Giguere said.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, Oct. 19 at 9:30 am, because the fourth annual ALS Walk will be held at the track, and everyone is encouraged to attend.
“We will have a couple of guest speakers, usually we have a family or community member who has been impact by ALS and a representative from the ALS association to address the community again, in terms of where the money goes and why it’s so important to continue to do all we can to help people fight this disease,” Giguere said.
After the speeches, the walk will begin. There will be music, all very upbeat, because it is a “positive and fun event,” according to Giguere.
“As people walk around the track, they’ll see tribute banners in honor of people who are battling or have battled ALS,” Giguere said. “These have been put together by Community Service Club with pictures and quotes from the families. Every other banner, we have an educational banner, so that people can learn about the disease as well.”
Photo used with permission by Kelly Giguere
There will also be raffles for items donated from area restaurants and businesses, so people can purchase raffle tickets. The week leading up to the walk, raffle tickets will be sold in the cafeteria so students and staff will be able to purchase them ahead of time in case they can’t make it to the walk, but still want to make a donation.
“If anyone is interested in helping out they can certainly contact Mrs. Wakelin or myself,” Giguere said. “This is the Community Service Club’s one big event, so everyone in the club helps us prepare for the walk and then also shows up on the day of the walk to manage everything. All help is appreciated.”
