The Joan Dancy and PALS (People with ALS) Foundation will host the fourth annual Sinderella’s Ball at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park on Dec. 2.
Joan Dancy and PALS helps to provide equipment and services to Monmouth and Ocean county ALS patients and their families, according to a press release.
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a disease of the parts of the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. In ALS, motor neurons (nerve cells that control muscle cells) are gradually lost.
As these motor neurons are lost, the muscles they control become weak and then nonfunctional. It is estimated that patient care for those affected can cost upward of $250,000 a year.
The Joan Dancy Foundation is able to help defray those costs with the generosity of businesses, volunteers, organizations and caring individuals, according to the press release.
Sinderella’s Ball was started four years ago when a group of friends came together to help the foundation. Their friend, Sindy Weiner, had been diagnosed with ALS three years earlier.
Weiner’s friends wanted to raise money to help others who were afflicted with ALS, as well as helping the families of those individuals, according to the press release. In three years, Sinderella’s Ball has raised almost $300,000.
Weiner, 61, succumbed to ALS on Oct. 13 following a seven-year battle with the disease. She was a resident of Marlboro before moving to Monmouth Beach three years ago. This year’s edition of Sinderella’s Ball will be held in her memory, according to the press release.
Doors at the Stone Pony will open at 7 p.m. Dec. 2. The donation for entry is $20. The evening will feature music by Strumberry Pie, Steve Reilly, Elliot Kappel and young musicians from Clarizio’s Music Center.
There will be a basket raffle, a live auction featuring tickets to Bruce Springsteen on Broadway, and a silent auction featuring tickets to “The Late Show with Steven Colbert,” New York Rangers, New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils games, and a Danelectro electric guitar signed by the members of Aerosmith.
For more information or to make a donation to Joan Dancy and PALS and Sinderella’s Ball, visit www.sinderellasball.org or call 732-450-2677.