Jack Orchard
St. Louis, Missouri

Extra Hands for ALS



Jack Orchard is now 37 and will probably die in the next year. He has ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). As a result, he cannot move his legs or arms, can move only one finger to work a computer mouse, can barely hold his head up, and must rely on other people to take care of him. However much ALS slowly takes the body, the disease leaves the mind intact. Through the power of his mind, Jack has fought back, helping ALS families who suffer with this disease through the program he co-founded, "Extra Hands for ALS."

Through the program, high school and college student volunteers complete a training program with ALS clinicians and social workers. Once the student volunteers complete their training, they are placed on a team with another volunteer and an adult mentor, usually an experienced adult volunteer or ALS survivor. Under their guidance, student volunteers provide "friendly visitor" services, such as helping with mail or e-mail, 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.

To date, hundreds of students have worked thousands of hours all over the country for the cause. The opportunity to contribute through Extra Hands for ALS also helps the student volunteers. Their service opens them to a unique opportunity to grow and mature by getting to know someone who is facing a terminal illness. Many of these students have found that the experience changed their lives forever.

Jack Orchard has inspired people to get involved in a fight that was never their own. I am one of those people. I never knew anyone with ALS before Jack. Today, I work fulltime to expand Extra Hands for ALS to help fulfill Jack's dream--to have this help available to everyone in America who suffers from ALS, and ultimately to find a cure. For more information about Extra Hands, please visit www.extrahands.org, a Web site that Jack created.

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