Lyfe Brands, a company known for its high-quality standing desks and other upcoming health products, has chosen the ALS Association as its 2018 charity of choice. It was chosen because of the connection to the owner’s stepbrother, who is suffering from ALS.
Lyfe Brands, a company known for promoting health and a healthy lifestyle, has chosen the ALS Association as their “2018 Charity of The Year”. Each year a charity is selected. An avid supporter of the American Heart Association and Heart Survivor herself, Lyfe Brands' Owner and Founder Karen Thomas selected the ALS Association for 2018 out of compassion for her Stepbrother Bernie Dalton’s ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis diagnosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease) diagnosis. Karen and Lyfe Brands have joined the initiative to reignite the awareness of ALS. "Our focus is not only about renewing ALS Awareness, but sharing the story of my Step Brother's perseverance to continue to live out his dreams which we all can learn from. Despite losing his voice because of ALS, he was determined to create an album with San Francisco Singer/Songwriter Essence Goldman, entitled "Connection". This story is an inspiration to the world. I echo NPR Host Bob Boilen who said that Bernie’s story is ‘devastatingly beautiful’”.
Two years ago, in San Francisco, Bernie hired Singer/Songwriter Essence Goldman as his voice coach. He had always dreamed of making an album and was taking lessons to fine-tune his voice and develop his songwriting skills. Two months into him working with Essence, Bernie’s voice mysteriously disappeared. After a series of tests, he was diagnosed with the most aggressive form of ALS, Bulbar-Onset. His prognosis was one to three years. Bernie was 47. He realized it was time to “get his butt in gear”.
Because Bernie could no longer speak or sing, he asked Essence to be his voice and put music to his words. With renewed purpose, he wanted to leave a legacy for his daughter’s future children and conveys through his lyrics and music his world views, and his advice for living.
Essence launched a Go Fund Me campaign to create Bernie’s album, and with the generous outpour of support from over 49 states and 8 countries, funding made this possible. Essence brought together a gifted team of musicians whom Bernie directed through the collaborative process by writing on a dry erase board and giving a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”. Now, just little over one year later, his condition has continued to rapidly deteriorate, and he is only able to move his eyes and communicate using an Eye Gaze device, donated by Team Gleason.
Bernie’s album, entitled Bernie & The Believers, "Connection" has been released. The album release party was held in February at Slim's in San Francisco, a venue which previously was host to artists such as Prince and the Kings of Leon. "The emotions were so thick at the album release”, states Karen. “The venue was packed with fans and supporters. We were feeling gratitude and pride for his dream coming true, while realizing his days are numbered with this horrible disease. As a single father, he watched with tears from his wheelchair as his daughter Nicole sang a beautiful song that she had written for her Dad just two nights before. I will never forget that evening. We, with Essence Goldman, are sharing Bernie’s determination to see his dreams through and triumph over ALS.”
Karen mentioned “We have made some headway as Bernie’s story has been covered in the Bay Area by KTVU FOX, CBS and the San Francisco Chronicle as well as Go Fund Me Studios. And, more recently, NPR (National Public Radio) with 27 million listeners has featured Bernie’s story by publishing it on 'All Things Considered'”.
"In advance of May being ALS Awareness Month we have teamed up with Essence to further expand the reach of Bernie’s story to human interest venues such as Ellen DeGeneres, The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, Rachel Ray, Steve Harvey, CBS Morning News, and Good Morning America, etc. with hopes to spread the word, raise awareness and FIND A CURE. So far, none of these have responded and this may be because of the slowdown of awareness and publicity since the Ice Bucket Challenge which raised $115 million in the summer of 2014. It's time to reignite awareness and support ALS-stricken patients and family members," Karen shares. Says Goldman, “It’s time to put a new face on ALS and make it real again.”
Lyfe Brands prides itself on philanthropy and community support. They have chosen the ALS Association as its latest charity of choice for 2018 to help raise money for those suffering with ALS and to help fund research for a cure and treatments for others like Bernie. To learn more about the ALS Association, please visit their website.
The company has built its reputation on its high quality standing desks and is launching high quality supplements. Lyfe Brands realizes they can help people and the communities they serve in a variety of ways including their lifestyle products and philanthropy. Further information about Lyfe Brands can be found at: https://lyfe-brands.com/philanthropy. Other partner companies and their respective charities include Tahoe Lyfe’s Tahoe Fund which supports outdoor recreation, bike trails, lake clarity, conservation and stewardship in Lake Tahoe and Lyfe Brand's OBX Lyfe which supports the North Carolina CoastalFederation’s efforts to protect and restore coastal water quality and habitats throughout the North Carolina coast.
Lyfe Brands' standing desks may be purchased here: http://bit.ly/Lyfe-Brands-Desk
