UPCOMING EVENTS!
2nd Annual ALS DOUBLE PLAY at the Blue Jays to Take a Swing at ALS!
Join us on Saturday August 13, 2016. We have 100 seats in the 200 in the outfield near the Blue Jays bullpen! Adult tickets are $50 each and Youth 14 years and under are $40.
Purchase Tickets
1st Annual Exhale Hope for ALS Yoga event!
Join us for three hours of yoga bliss on Saturday October 1st at York Region’s Administrative Centre in Newmarket. Yogi’s of all levels and experience are invited to join us as we create a space for hope in our hearts and the hearts of others for people living with ALS along with their families and friends. Yoga will be led by our friends at Ananda Hot Yoga studios (Exhale Hope yoga event will be at room temperature).
Registration will open in July.
Intentional Walk 2016 was a huge success!
Photos are now ready for viewing! Click here!
ALS Double Play is holding its first Intentional Walk on Saturday June 11, 2016. The walk will support the charity’s goal of funding a new researcher at the TANZ Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto, headed by Dr. Janice Robertson.
The 5km Intentional Walk will be held in Markham and is open to all who are willing and able. It is not a race, simply time to get together with friends and family, whatever your intention may be. It is also for for a great local cause. What is your intention?
Re-live the #PurpleCarpet2016!
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Thank You Mayor Scarpitti’s Chinese New Year’s Dinner
On February 18, 2016, ALS Double Play attended Mayor Scarpitti’s 6th annual Chinese New Year Dinner. We were one of the lucky recipients of the dinner. ALS Double Play thanks all the event sponsors and donors, because of you, we are closer to making ALS history.
THANK YOU!
Thanks to you, #HopeGives 2015 was a success!
Thank you to our donors, friends and family who participated in #HopeGives. Not only did we raise over $2000 toward ALS Research, we also made some new friends on social media and cast our awareness net even further. We cannot wait to share more news with you ALS Research s it arrives.
Do not forget to share with your friends and family, what you’re doing to help #makeALShistory.
Take 90 seconds of your time to find out more about ALS and why now is the time to make a difference.
How Fun!
Our Inspiration, Christopher Chiu, was at the Jays game on September 22 and received a short visit from Blue Jays President Paul Beeston. Christopher even got to wear Paul’s 1992 World Series ring.
#EveryAugustUntilACure
ALS Double Play is participating in the #ALSicebucketchallenge and is encouraging their friends and family to do the same.
Our goal is raise enough funds to support one new researcher for ALS. We are working with the researchers under the direction of Dr. Janice Robertson at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto.
Help us reach our goal by
Check out our coverage on SNAPD Markahm!
Directors Alex & Cherrie take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge:
Friends of ALS Double Play take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge:
GREAT NEWS! ALS Double Play is now a Registered Canadian Charity
The Directors of ALS Double Play would like to thank the guidance and support of John McAuley of Muskoka Woods Sports Resort and their lawyers at Benefic for helping them reach this important milestone.
What does this mean to our supporters? We are now able to provide donation receipts for tax purposes. Check back soon as we are updating our donation site.
The Purple Carpet Event in Support of ALS!
Thank you for your participation in the #PurpleCarpetEvent!
With your help, we raised over $5000 at the #PurpleCarpetEvent.
We also received great coverage in Markham SNAPD!
Want to see pictures? Check out our Special Events Page.
Our Vision
To make ALS history
Our Mission
To be a connection for people living with ALS. Through their stories, we raise awareness, connecting communities to support the search for a cure.
To raise funds to donate to Canadian charities that are researching better treatment methods and looking for a cure for ALS.
Goal
Short term: to raise and donate sufficient funds to the University of Toronto cover the costs of one ALS researcher for three years.
Our Relationship with the University of Toronto
We have developed a relationship with Dr. Janice Robertson of the Tanz Research Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto.
Our Inspiration
Christopher Chiu was born and raised in Markham, Ontario.
As a young boy he frequently came home with scrapes, bruises as he was an incredibly active child. He was also mischievous and had the smile to match. His paternal grandmother would chastise people when they called Christopher a “bad boy”. He was not “bad, “ she’d say, he was “naughty.”
The naughty little boy grew up to be an avid sportsman, playing recreation volleyball, golf, refereeing soccer and has never given up on the Toronto Maple Leafs nor the Toronto Blue Jays. He enjoyed riding his motorcycle and spending time with his family and friends.
Christopher discovered his artistic side in high school when he found he had an eye for sharing the beautiful. He turned his photography passion into a career as he became a successful entrepreneur with a photography and videography business.
In early 2011 Christopher realized something was different. His reaction times while playing volleyball were off. In the gym, he kept stubbing his toe. He didn’t think a lot of it until later that spring when he felt like he could not “stretch” out his leg. This is when the battery of tests began.
And a battery of tests it was. Because we still do not know where ALS comes from, an ALS diagnosis only comes from ruling out other potential illnesses. It was not until fall of that same year, that Christopher and his family received the devastating news.
Today Christopher walks very few steps with the help of a walker or friend. He still enjoys going out to the movies and simply hanging out with his friends and family. Christopher took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge this summer in support of raising awareness to this horrible disease.
What does our name, ALS Double Play, mean?
Double Play is a baseball term.
Baseball is Christopher Chiu’s (our inspiration) favourite sport.
ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease; he was a major league baseball player.
Double also denotes the fact that we will only focus on two aspects of impacting ALS, raising awareness and supporting research.