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  Volunteering With Extra HandsALS Family RegistrationAbout Extra Hands for ALS Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat Is ALS?Extra Hands In The NewsOur TeamBoard of DirectorsCareers With Extra HandsWhere Your Donations Go |
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Our Mission "To instill the importance of community service and develop leadership qualities in young adults by uniting them with people who have ALS and their families." Program Overview 
Through Extra Hands for ALS, high school and college students volunteer
to help people with ALS and their families by doing chores and errands or
just providing company for the homebound. Students also organize and
participate in ALS public awareness events designed to teach their peers
and communities about the disease. Student volunteers complete a training program, and then are placed on a team with another volunteer and an adult mentor, usually an experienced adult volunteer or ALS survivor. In the home, students provide "friendly visitor" services such as helping with mail or email, housecleaning, getting groceries, doing yard work, reading aloud, or simply providing company to the patient. Once per semester, students participate in a public awareness event such as organizing an ALS Awareness Day at their school or running an information booth at a community fair. An adult mentor works with each team to guide and coach the student volunteers and to serve as an additional source of aid for the ALS family. Mentors visit the families once each month, pitching in with whatever needs to be done and providing emotional support. They keep in frequent contact with everyone on the team to ensure all goes smoothly, and they work with the student volunteers on their public awareness initiatives. Mentors also function as ambassadors for Extra Hands into their own personal and professional networks. 
Extra Hands for ALS is designed to benefit people with ALS, volunteers, and the
ALS community at large. Through this program, young people have the
opportunity to connect deeply with an issue and the people it affects,
to become involved in their communities, and to explore possible career
paths in healthcare and social services. ALS families directly
benefit from the services of the volunteers. Additionally, the program
is intended to expand the circle of people who are actively involved
with ALS and thereby unite and invigorate the nationwide ALS community.Extra Hands for ALS is operational in many locations. The program will be rolled out nationally, so be sure to let us know if you would like to have it in your area. Our Values Many disease-oriented charities appeal to the public's sense of pity to find support and common ground. At Extra Hands for ALS we think this is a flawed approach that serves only to isolate further those affected by ALS. We operate according to these values: Courage, Perseverance, & Hope 
The Jack Orchard ALS Foundation and Extra Hands for ALS were founded to combat the sense of
hopelessness that accompanies a diagnosis of ALS. Instead of believing "there's nothing you can do",
we will work to change the picture: bringing relief to one ALS family after another; educating our
communities about what ALS is and what can be done about it; showing young people the power they
possess to make a difference; funding the development of research that can help ALS patients live
longer, better lives; and fundamentally altering the landscape of rare disease research in our
country. Jack Orchard himself embodies courage, perseverance, and hope as he turns his personal
struggle with terminal illness into the opportunity to change thousands of lives for the better.
Every person who works with the Jack Orchard ALS Foundation and Extra Hands for ALS also embodies
these principles: by turning Jack's vision into a working, sustainable reality.Respect, Responsibility, & Compassion These values express what we expect out of the quality of our work and the tone of our interactions with others. As we raise hopes, it is our responsibility to do what we can to meet them. We can never lose sight of whom it is we are serving: a diverse community of those affected by ALS (whether as patients, families, volunteers, or foundation staff), who have put their trust in us to make a difference. These are the values that tell us to work efficiently, to pledge funds wisely, to be inclusive and cooperative, and to structure programs that both serve people with ALS and support volunteers. Believe! "Believe!" is the one-word motto of the Extra Hands for ALS program. This word encapsulates our optimism and our passion for what we are doing. It also emphasizes the personal connection - whatever it is that resonates for each of us, whatever hope we harbor - that inspires any one of us to join the fight against ALS. This word honors each of our individual motivations and the way they are united in our common cause. |
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