August is Advocacy Action Month for ALS advocates—an opportunity for you to join with other advocates and push for changes in policies that affect the lives of people living with ALS!
Throughout the month, ALS advocates from across the nation will use the 10th anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge as an opportunity to engage with members of Congress on federal appropriations for ALS research funding. Advocates will share their personal experiences and urge members of Congress to increase funding of critical research to find new treatments and a cure for the disease and encourage their lawmakers to take the challenge again to commemorate the anniversary.
When we join together as ALS advocates, we can make real change happen. Here are eight easy ways you can get involved and help make change for people living with ALS and their families:
Become an Advocate—Use your voice and experience to inform legislators about the critical needs of people living with ALS, their families and caregivers. As an ALS advocate, you can build relationships with your lawmakers that can help advance legislation, create and improve policies, and change laws to help the thousands of people living with ALS. Sign up TODAY!
Sign up for Text Alerts—Receive up to the minute advocacy alerts and updates on your mobile phone by texting “ALS” to 855-469-2621.
Call or Email Your Members of Congress—Learn more about your legislators, the issues they support, and how you can contact them directly. Call or email your U.S. Senators’ and Representative’s district offices and urge their support for increasing ALS research funding in the 2025 budget and encourage them to take the Ice Bucket Challenge to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the challenge.
Register and Make a Plan to Vote—This is an election year and your vote matters! Lawmakers at every level of government can make an impact in the fight against ALS, so ensure that you are registered to vote and have a plan to vote in whatever way is best for you on or before Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
Stop by Your District Office—Drop by and ask your Members of Congress to take the Ice Bucket Challenge while also delivering information about ALS research funding. We have helpful tools and resources you can use to be an effective advocate this month and all year long. Visit our online Advocacy Resource Center to learn more.
Send a Letter—You can personalize our ALS funding research letter and send it to your Member of Congress to let them know about the various issues that are important to you and your loved ones impacted by ALS. As part of that message urge your lawmakers to take the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Use Social Media—Follow our social channels on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest news from the ALS community. And don’t forget to tweet your member of Congress and encourage them to take the Ice Bucket Challenge and share it on social media using the hashtag #IceBucket10.
Share your ALS Story—Whether as a person living with ALS or as a caregiver or loved one to someone living with the disease, sharing your story is a powerful way to help others in the ALS community and beyond feel the impact ALS has on the people it touches.
We are committed to making ALS a livable disease for everyone, everywhere, until a cure is found. That means continuing to support research in the search for new treatments, while advocating with our legislators on behalf of the community and improving access to the critical care people with ALS and their families need regardless of where they live. Reminding your legislators about the 10th anniversary of the Ice Bucket Challenge is a great way to raise awareness about why their support is needed now more than ever. Become ALS advocate and join us today!
To learn more about how you can become an advocate and join the fight to help the ALS community, visit our website HERE.
To continue to follow stories about people living with ALS in the community and learn more about the disease, subscribe to receive our weekly blogs in your inbox HERE or follow us at als.org/blog.
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