Last week Project ALS hosted their 24th Annual Gala, Tomorrow is Tonight, at Bowlero at Chelsea Piers. Rather than a typical black-tie dinner, we went bowling! The evening honored Ben Stiller, his wife Christine Taylor, and their kids Ella and Quin, who like its founders, have made Project ALS a family affair.
Project ALS was founded by sisters Valerie, Meredith, and Jenifer Estess. In 1998, Jenifer, a 35-year-old New York theater and film producer, was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that destroys nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain which control voluntary muscle movement, eventually leading to paralysis and death.
Prior to Jenifer’s diagnosis, the sisters had been planning to start an entertainment company. They had always wanted to work together and had just put together a business plan when out of nowhere Jenifer was diagnosed with ALS. “Her symptoms presented as unimpressive at first”, Valerie told me, “general weakness, getting tired after walking a couple blocks, muscle twitches and stuff like that. She went to the doctor who said nothing was wrong. Go see a shrink.” Read More