Festival to benefit ALS, MS research
Woman hopes to raise $150,000 with all-day event
By J.E. Espino • Post-Crescent staff writer • August 2, 2008


BUCHANAN — In two years, Peggy Driessen has amassed a wealth of experience in event planning and fundraising.

She's set to go today with an all-day carnival at Hollandtown Community Park that features games, live entertainment and auctions — including one for bachelors. Her goal is to raise at least $150,000.
Driessen says she's only doing her share to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that has debilitated the muscles in her arms and neck since its onset. She is in her sixth year since doctors diagnosed the disease.

"If you make it to five years, you're doing incredibly well. If you make it to 10, you're short of a miracle," Driessen says.

The first festival was held last summer. With cooperation from family and friends, the event turned out to be a success. It required the help of 300 volunteers and drew hundreds from across the state.

Her goal was to raise $50,000 for the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation. She raised more than $125,000.

The money was channeled toward ALS research. This year, the proceeds will be split evenly between research of multiple sclerosis and ALS.

Wisconsin has a high incidence of MS because the disease is common in people of northern European descent, said Khemissa Bejaoui, who has been researching MS and ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Environmental factors may play a role in its onset. The specifics that trigger it, however, remain a mystery. "If we know, we can prevent the exposure," Bejaoui said.

So too, the research continues for ALS, which researchers do not completely understand. There is no cure for ALS, and progress has been slow coming.

The progressive neurodegenerative disease first received attention in 1939 when it cut short the Major League career of Gehrig, a New York Yankees star.

The disease, usually fatal, weakens and atrophies all muscles in the body.

Some 30,000 Americans have the disease. Compare that to the estimated 400,000 people who have MS.

"Only 5 to 10 percent of the patients with ALS have a genetic form of the disease. The only way we can study diseases is to work with families who have a strong history of the disease," Bejaoui said.

Driessen's family has been a major stimulus for the research. Some 200 members who live in the state have participated in Bejaoui's ALS study. Twenty family members have died from the disease.

Driessen's doctors tell her she is doing very well, though there are other challenges. She also is battling stage 3 melanoma in her head to neck region. She has had six surgeries to remove tumors since her ALS diagnosis and is scheduled for a seventh.

Until recently, Driessen has remained pretty independent.

"I truly believe it is mind over matter," she says. "You can curl up and die, or you can take every day that God gives you. I take every day that God gives me."

J.E. Espino: 920-993-1000, ext. 426, or jespino@postcrescent.com

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