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    Dear friends, my good friend John Williams - son of Robert and Mabel
    Williams - needs support. Please help if you can and do spread the
    word.<br>
    claude<br>
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                            style="font-family:"Calibri",
                            sans-serif;">Hello everyone.  I am sending
                            this message today because my brother John
                            Chalmers Williams (son of Robert & Mabel
                            Williams) was recently diagnosed with having
                            ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.  ALS
                            is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease and it
                            is a progressive neurodegenerative disease
                            that affects nerve cells in the brain and
                            the spinal cord.  <br>
                             <br>
                            Motor neurons reach from the brain to the
                            spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the
                            muscles throughout the body. The progressive
                            degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS
                            eventually leads to their demise. When the
                            motor neurons die, the ability of the brain
                            to initiate and control muscle movement is
                            lost. With voluntary muscle action
                            progressively affected, people may lose the
                            ability to speak, eat, move and breathe. The
                            motor nerves that are affected when you have
                            ALS are the motor neurons that provide
                            voluntary movements and muscle control.
                            Examples of voluntary movements are making
                            the effort to reach for a smart phone or
                            step off a curb. These actions are
                            controlled by the muscles in the arms and
                            legs.<br>
                             <br>
                            There are two different types of ALS,
                            sporadic and familial. Sporadic which is the
                            most common form of the disease in the U.S.,
                            is 90 – 95 percent of all cases. It may
                            affect anyone, anywhere. Familial ALS (FALS)
                            accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all cases in
                            the U.S. Familial ALS means the disease is
                            inherited. In those families, there is a 50%
                            chance each offspring will inherit the gene
                            mutation and may develop the disease. French
                            neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot discovered
                            the disease in 1869.<br>
                             <br>
                            While John's health insurance will cover
                            traditional medical approaches that deal
                            with ALS (none of these are geared towards a
                            cure) they do not cover non-traditional or
                            experimental approaches (such as various
                            stem cell based treatments).  So in an
                            effort to help raise funds to participate in
                            those experimental treatments and cures,
                            which cost many tens of thousands of
                            dollars, the family and friends of John and
                            his wife Lisa have setup two major fund
                            raising initiatives.  <br>
                             <br>
                            The first initiative is a go fund me page
                            which can be accessed using the following
                            link:<br>
                             <br>
                          </span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                            rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
                            href="https://www.gofundme.com/jwilliamslovegives"><span
                              style="font-family:"Calibri",
                              sans-serif;color:#0068CF;">https://www.gofundme.com/jwilliamslovegives</span></a><span
                            style="font-family:"Calibri",
                            sans-serif;"><br>
                             <br>
                            The second initiative is a tribute and
                            dinner on May 7th from 4pm to 6pm and a
                            panel discussion from 6pm to 8pm at the
                            Charles Wright Museum of African American
                            History at 315 East Warren Avenue, Detroit
                            Michigan 48201 (313) 494-5800.  The fund
                            raising dinner will have a $50 cost.  Please
                            visit </span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                            rel="nofollow" target="_blank"
                            href="http://brotherjohnwilliams.weebly.com/"><span
                              style="font-family:"Calibri",
                              sans-serif;">http://brotherjohnwilliams.weebly.com/</span></a><span
                            style="font-family:"Calibri",
                            sans-serif;">  to purchase tickets and get
                            general information.<br>
                             <br>
                            Any help that you can provide will be
                            greatly appreciated!!!<br>
                             <br>
                            You can contact me at  Frank Williams at </span><a
                            moz-do-not-send="true" rel="nofollow"
                            ymailto="mailto:fhwdaman@hotmail.com"
                            target="_blank"
                            href="mailto:fhwdaman@hotmail.com"><span
                              style="font-family:"Calibri",
                              sans-serif;"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:fhwdaman@hotmail.com">fhwdaman@hotmail.com</a></span></a><span
                            style="font-family:"Calibri",
                            sans-serif;">  (734) 751-9275, or Doreatha
                            Ewald </span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                            rel="nofollow"
                            ymailto="mailto:pdmewald@wowway.com"
                            target="_blank"
                            href="mailto:pdmewald@wowway.com"><span
                              style="font-family:"Calibri",
                              sans-serif;">pdmewald@wowway.com</span></a><span
                            style="font-family:"Calibri",
                            sans-serif;"> (586) 778-3617 if you have any
                            questions.</span></div>
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                            style="font-family:"Calibri",
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                          </span><em><b><span
                                style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",
                                sans-serif;">Frank Williams</span></b></em><b><i><span
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                                sans-serif;"><br>
                              </span></i></b><span
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      <div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
        Freedom Archives
        522 Valencia Street
        San Francisco, CA 94110
        415 863.9977
        <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
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