This past May was ALS Awareness Month. Every year members of our Les Turner ALS family seize the opportunity to help raise awareness about the disease. Tag Day volunteers and ALS Awareness advocates spread the message of hope and help and raise funds to support people living with ALS and their families.
Tiffony Banks and her family have hosted a Tag Days Drive in their neighborhood of Flossmoor since 2012. It’s a tradition they look forward to year after year. “Tag Days is one of the most important yearly events that my family has the privilege to be involved in. We even have family members who drive several miles or fly in just to participate,” says Tiffony.
Tiffony’s mother, Gloria, was a fierce single mother of seven children. The family banded together after Gloria’s diagnosis with ALS, “To say that we were heartbroken, frightened and felt helpless is an understatement,” remembers Tiffony.
“I can’t forget the day when my mother was at Northwestern Medicine, on a ventilator, and several of our family members were surrounding her bedside with distraught faces. A loving and compassionate nurse from the Les Turner ALS Foundation came right on time that day. Her knowledge, kindness and love were felt by all. The Les Turner ALS Foundation truly expressed their genuine love and concern for our family from the very beginning of my mother’s battle with ALS.”
Now, Tiffony and her family honor Gloria’s legacy and participate in our Tag Days Drive to help raise awareness and ensure other families know where to turn. “There is a true sense of adventure because each year you never know who you’ll meet that will express their appreciation for our dedication. Everyone is so driven with passion and heartfelt dedication that the entire neighborhood is infected with our excitement.”
And even when the weather on the day of their Drive doesn’t cooperate, Tiffony reminds everyone to, “reflect on how important your work is for families that desperately need the assistance of the Foundation and to find a cure.”
“Our family will never forget, and it is our pleasure to express our appreciation and support for the Foundation and their diligent efforts to help families currently battling this disease.”
Your support is vital to ensuring every person living with ALS in the Chicagoland area can receive the help they need. If you would like to make a donation, please click here.
