As we come to the close of another decade, we have so much to look back on and be thankful for. It was the beginning of the decade in October 2011 that our first President and Inspiration, Christopher Chiu was diagnosed with the horrible disease ALS. Christopher and his family were in shock, in disbelief, and overwhelmed, to say the least. However, the more the family learned about the disease, and as Christopher’s family and friends began to fundraise for the d

This GivingTuesday we want to introduce you to our dear friend Mark Daher. Mark grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario and attended the same high school as our Executive Direct Cherrie. (Many of our friends will know that Cherrie’s brother was only 32 years old when he was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. Sadly, Christopher passed away in 2016.) One of Christopher’s greatest fears was that his family and friends would stop talking about ALS once he was gone. He said, “If you stop talk

In 2014 the ALS Ice bucket challenge took the world by storm. It seemed as if, all of a sudden, people were dumping buckets of ice water over themselves. And they were challenging you to do it too, as well as donate money to ALS. The ALS ice bucket challenge encourages nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have 24 hours to comply or f

The summer of 2017 started and ended strong for ALS Double Play. We held our second annual Intentional Walk for ALS at the Markham Civic Centre on Saturday, June 10. It was another beautiful day, attended by a couple hundred of our friends. We walked a round around a sign lined route at the Civic Centre - ensuring that people noticed the crowd and the cause! From July 14 to 16 we were pleased to participate in Power Unit Youth Organization's annual Night It Up night market.

On Thursday, March 30, 2017 we held our 3rd Annual Purple Carpet event with a screening of the documentary film, Gleason. While mother nature wasn't our very best friend that night (she provided some snow, freezing rain and sleet), we have friends who made the trek and enjoyed a life changing film with us. We heard from the Christopher Chiu Fellow, Dr. Philip McGoldrick about the importance of ALS research, then a short message from Markham's Mayor Frank Scarpitti, before we

We caught up with Dr. Philip McGoldrick, ALS Double Play's Fellow for the Christopher Chiu Fellowship for ALS Research at the University of Toronto. Over the next three years, ALS Double Play will fund the ALS research that Dr. McGoldrick will be working on. From his favourite place in the world, to the best meal he's ever had, to where he feels ALS research is going, learn more below! Name: Dr. Philip McGoldrick Hometown: Stockport/Manchester, UK Undergraduate School: Univer

Recently one of our friends, a teacher at Unionville High School, asked if she might include an ALS patient as a virtual client for her Interior Design Class. What a great (awareness) idea! The students sent a number of questions about daily living needs, space needs, specific needs for machinery, etc. The result was a visually appealing and highly useable space for both the person living with ALS and their caregiver. One of the things that becomes difficult with ALS is the n

ALS Double Play was proud to present its first pledge payment to the University of Toronto for the Christopher Chiu Fellowship for ALS research. ALS Double Play’s pledge of $150,000 to the University of Toronto will be for the benefit of the student award program for research fellows at the Tanz Centre for Neurodegenerative Research at the Faculty of Medicine. The Fellowship will be named after ALS Double Play’s past president and inspiration, Christopher Chiu, “The Christoph

Christopher Ian Chiu was quietly set free of his five-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), on October 31, 2016. He was surrounded by family and friends and now is at peace. Christopher was born on June 28, 1979 in Toronto to Alex and Alicia Chiu and big sister Cherrie-Marie. The family has lived in Markham since 1981 where Christopher attended Mother Teresa Catholic School and Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy. He graduated from Ryerson University with

On Saturday, October 1, ALS Double Play hosted its first 3 hour yoga event, Exhale Hope for ALS. Over 50 people participated in one, two or three hours of restorative, energetic and playful yoga. At the end of the morning we exhaled hope, knowing that we all did something good for ourselves, and the ALS community. Click on the picture below fore more event photos. #yoga #ALS

Two years ago the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge swept the world. It was particularly meaningful to me because my brother had been diagnosed with ALS just 3 years earlier. I felt like no one had heard of the disease, let alone, know what it does to the body. Suddenly big name actors and sports figures were taking the challenge and posting it on social media. Finally, I thought, finally, people will understand just how awful ALS is. This was not necessarily the case. The challenge b

ALS Double Play's first ever 5km walk, the Intentional Walk could not have been more perfect. On Saturday June 11, over 250 of our friends, family, supporters and new friends, converged at the Markham Civic Centre grounds. The previous night and and early morning gave us a scare with wild thunder storms, with all the hard work our co-chairs had put in, the last thing we wanted was for our first walk to be a wash! Mother Nature came through for us and we had a spectacular day!

Saturday August 9, was one hot Saturday afternoon. We were strong in numbers, 50 family, friends and supporters in our purple ALS Double Play shirts. We cheered on our Toronto Blue Jays, but to no avail. The post-All Star streak came to a halt. But we were undeterred. Together we turned heads with our purple tees. Together we made it on the JumboTron! Together we made it on TV. Together, just by attending the game as a group, we raised awareness of ALS. Thank you to everyone