Trudy Meyer was recently awarded the United Way/CHC-NE Lincoln Speaker’s Impact Award at United Way’s annual meeting. Two years ago, she lost her husband, Brad, to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). She describes her husband as a “glass half-full” kind of guy. He was a true family man who would trade a night out with the guys for a night with his family anytime. And, even until the very end, before ALS took his life at the age of 40, Brad kept his strong sense of humor and was cracking jokes.
It is these qualities that have Trudy on a mission to not let her husband be forgotten. She wants to make sure their twin 9-year old sons remember their dad. And she wants other Nebraska families fighting this devastating disease to know that with the help of a hospice team and a local ALS Association, they don’t have to fight it alone.
“Brad was too good of a man and he suffered too much and fought too hard for everything to be forgotten. If I can help somebody else and make bizarre sense of why it happened, then it wasn’t all for nothing,” said Trudy.
Thank You Omaha and Lincoln Area United Way Donors!
A special thanks to workplace donors who contributed to the United Way of the Midlands and United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County campaigns. Community Health Charities of Nebraska is a fundraising partner with these two United Way federations, and our health agency members benefit from United Way contributions made to the United Way Fund. Thanks to all who participated in their workplace campaigns.
NATIONAL NEWS
An accomplished public speaker and a long-time volunteer for MDA, Vance Taylor co-hosts the regional broadcast of the Jerry Lewis MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) Labor Day Telethon for the Washington, DC area. Vance is all to familiar with the many challenging aspects of living with a neuromuscular disorder and understands that where to turn for credible information can be a major obstacle for many. Through its Health Matters at Work® program, Community Health Charities has partnered with MDA’s Vance Taylor in this video podcast to provide help, hope and knowledge for patients and their families who are affected by a neuromuscular disease. 
We’ve all heard it’s better to give than receive — but Cami Walker is finding out just how much better. Walker, a small-business consultant in Los Angeles, was a newlywed, newly diagnosed with MS, and spent much of late 2006 and early 2007 in the hospital with horrific pain. While the docs gave her drugs, a friend gave her an odd bit of advice: Give 29 gifts in 29 days. “I was like, ‘Ooookay, whatever. I can’t even walk. How is giving things away going to help me?’ And she’s like, ‘Just try it, it might help.’” So she did. And it did. Not right away, though. Walker forgot about her friend’s suggestion, then came across her diary entry about it weeks later during a particularly painful, sleepless night.
We’ve all heard it’s better to give than receive — but Cami Walker is finding out just how much better. Walker, a small-business consultant in Los Angeles, was a newlywed, newly diagnosed with MS, and spent much of late 2006 and early 2007 in the hospital with horrific pain. While the docs gave her drugs, a friend gave her an odd bit of advice: Give 29 gifts in 29 days. “I was like, ‘Ooookay, whatever. I can’t even walk. How is giving things away going to help me?’ And she’s like, ‘Just try it, it might help.’” So she did. And it did. Not right away, though. Walker forgot about her friend’s suggestion, then came across her diary entry about it weeks later during a particularly painful, sleepless night. The next morning she called a friend who lives with MS. “We had a nice conversation that morning. That was my gift the first day. And things immediately started to turn around for me. It blew my mind.” Walker decided to treat herself to breakfast out that morning, so her husband dropped her off at a coffee shop. Then two small but amazing things happened. Another diner secretly paid for her breakfast. And she was able to walk home on her own power. She kept giving gifts. Not necessarily the kind in wrapping paper, but things or actions designed to improve other people’s lives. She did the dishes for her husband, which she hadn’t been able to do in a while. She made some charitable donations. She fed a neighbor’s kitten. She gave free time to clients and a bigger-than-usual tip to her massage therapist. And she kept feeling better. Walker doesn’t claim that gift-giving directly impacts MS. 
