For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ALS March of Faces it is briefly an awareness tool that features pictures and information of those who are affected by ALS or who have lost their battle with ALS. This is a tool for local awareness activities and a 25th anniversary project of the ALS Society of Canada. If you are a Canadian living with ALS or had a family member with ALS, we invite you to add a portrait to our project. There is no charge to persons participating in the ALS March of Faces project.
It consists of banners each of which has 20 pictures of PALS with information such as where they are from, birth date, date of diagnosis and deceased date if applicable. The banners are approximately 6' x 2' made of vinyl and printed with weather resistant ink. They are suitable and very usable for all ALS functions such as the ALS Walks.
The ALS March of Faces over the past number of years has been going through many changes, some of which have not been for the best. We were under the impression that bigger might be better and with that thought in mind we expanded our board. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this disease, PALS sometimes go where the mind is willing but the body cannot.
This expansion took place because we wanted to make more inroads with the ALSA Chapters in the U. S. All this did was lead to more work for those of us who were able and it got to a point where nothing was being accomplished. With this in mind at our Annual General meeting on August 30, 2009, the ALS March of Faces was officially disbanded. This will take effect in March of 2010.
The interest in this project has remained strong in Canada and with this in mind I have contacted ALS Canada and we have decided to continue with the project. We now have a printer in place so that all the banners will be consistently uniform. Prices etc., to follow. I have started a web site that will strictly be the Canadian ALS March of Faces. (www.CanadianALSMarchofFaces.com) Everyone who has taken part can be found on this web site. Printable permission forms can also be found on this site as well as information on how to submit.
I would like to encourage all Provincial ALS Societies to please add this information to your web sites as well as your newsletters to encourage people to continue to take part. It is my belief that there are a great number of people out there who have never heard of this project so it will be somewhat like starting over again. As most of you know, myself and Marvin Streich have been involved with this project from the very beginning and it is near and dear to our hearts. I see no reason why it cannot be just as successful now as it was in the past. This project has turned into one of the very best awareness tools that we have to date. Where the Banners are displayed there is always a great deal of interest. Some of the Provinces are now getting Regional and Chapter Banners which greatly increases the interest in them. I know that it is a hard decision for some individuals to take part but please consider the awareness that it does raise.
The Canadian ALS March of Faces also provides a couple other benefits to the ALS Societies. We will provide PowerPoint shows of all the people from your Province who have taken part in the project at no cost to your Society. These can be used at a variety of different functions such as meetings etc. We also design posters, mainly for the Walks, that have pictures of local people as well as other pertinent information.
More information:
George Goodwin
Canadian
Coordinator
ALS March of
Faces