From Idea to Impact

Fundraisers are a great opportunity to use your skills and your friends’ and family’s interests to achieve your fundraising goal. Our friends at the Matt Creen Golf Invitational have been raising money for the Les Turner ALS Foundation for over 12 years! Here are some tips for hosting your own event:

Get creative! Meet with your team to brainstorm fun ways to fundraise together. There are endless ways to fundraise and every team is different. Find out what works best for your team

Ask for help. Planning an event can be a daunting task, so remember to lean on others for help. Teamwork makes the dream work.

Partner with your favorite local spot. You may be surprised to find that a wide variety of local businesses are happy to work with you to host a fundraising event.

Turn your idea virtual. Hosting a virtual event can connect you with more people who may not be available to travel or who may not be comfortable with in-person events.

Fundraiser Ideas:

Pickleball tournament
Kickball tournament
Team t-shirt sale
Art sale
Barbeque
Bake sale
Car wash
Pub Crawl
Name-the-baby board in your workplace
Activity-tracking (ask for donations for every mile ran, every book read, every sweater knitted, etc.)

Wine tasting
Pajama or ugly sweater day at your workplace
Zumba or yoga class
Trivia night
Local business fundraiser
Yard sale

Partner with Local Businesses

Businesses will often work with you to host fundraising nights where a portion of their sales will be donated back to you. Ask local and chain restaurants, activity centers, bars, jewelry stores, or any type of business. Here’s a list of some chain restaurants that host fundraisers, though don’t be shy to reach out to your favorite spot to see if they will work with you to help fundraise.

Walker Spotlight: Ken Trent

After being diagnosed with ALS over four years ago, Ken Trent has participated in the ALS Walk for Life with Team HOPE and has helped plan two fundraising events: a “Strikeout ALS” volleyball tournament, and a basketball camp with a t-shirt sales fundraiser. Ken walks to provide hope for everyone living with ALS. His advice to others who are considering hosting a fundraising event is to go for it because you might be surprised to discover how many people want to help.

ALS Walk for Life News

We’re excited to announce our ALS Walk for Life route will go through the historic Soldier Field again!

Here’s a map of this year’s course route.

Volunteers Needed!

We need your help distributing flyers for the ALS Walk for Life!

Download the flyer and print it or email us and we’ll mail the flyers to you, and you can put them up in your community wherever there is a bulletin board or store window that accepts flyers, like your favorite coffee shop, library, or gym.

March of Faces Deadline Approaching

Submissions for the March of Faces banner that will be displayed at the 2025 ALS Walk for Life are due Sept. 1.

Your submission will be sent immediately after you click the ‘Submit’ button — don’t worry if you continue to see a spinning circle.

Submit here

Reserve Your Accessible Parking Spot

We will be reserving accessible parking spaces in the Waldron garage for people with ALS. Please let us know if you would like to reserve one or more of these spaces by Sept. 8. There will be first-come-first-serve accessible parking spaces in Waldron Garage in addition to these reserved spaces.

Email us to reserve your spot.

Last Walker Wednesday: Tips on Asking for Donations

Asking for donations can be daunting. Being strategic will help you succeed.

View all past Walker Wednesdays here

Top Team Fundraisers

Moving Mountains with Mustard Seeds $57,450

Lane’s Walkin Ducks $20,400

Dave’s Coconut Kids $12,500

Top Individual Fundraisers

Patrick Dillon $12,500

Michelle Place $7,438

Michael Stevens $6,000

Resources

Team Captain Kit

This guide includes tips on recruiting teammates, how to motivate your team, fundraising 101, online and offline fundraising ideas, a team captain checklist, and exciting fundraising prizes. Access the Team Captain Kit.

March of Faces

Honor a loved one by including them on a March of Faces banner this year, which will be displayed at the ALS Walk for Life with banners from prior years going back to 2003.

Submit to March of Faces today! All submissions after September 1st, 2025 will be held till the 2026 ALS Walk for Life

All Participants Must Register

Everyone who will be on-site and participating in the Walk, regardless of age, needs to sign up for the event and sign the event waiver. Skip the registration line on event day and sign up your crew online.

Always reach out with questions about the Walk or hosting a fundraiser. We’re here to help.

Thank you for joining us in the fight against ALS.

Cheers!

Mady Frischer

Senior Associate, Events

mfrischer@lesturnerals.org