Arthea's Angels

Mission

After my mother passed in 2010 from ALS, I vowed to do something each year to help others suffering from this disease. Then one of my dear friends from college, Whitney Cottrell Hill was diagnosed. It was one thing to watch my mother, who had lived a full life, pass away; it was heart-wrenching to see a young mother of four children figure out how to live each day while remaining positive and grateful. With the help of friends like you, we were able to help Whitney and her family ease the financial burden of this disease and Whitney left us in 2018. As with the way the universe works, a new dear friend came into my life, Liz Branch, and we were able to raise funds for her mother, Mary Schulte, until she lost her battle with ALS in 2022. This year, we are looking for a new Arthea's Angel and will otherwise donate funds to the ALS Association of Central Texas. Living the day to day with this disease, which strips away an individual's ability to move, talk, and eventually breathe, is a tremendous financial burden, as the assistance required is not covered by medical insurance.

How you can help:

Buy tickets below to attend our annual fundraising event
Donate below

Please join us for our Annual ALS Benefit... and just like last several years, it's a barge party on Lake Travis! We have 50 spots on the party barge and hope to fill it up. Thank you for your tremendous support.

Details:

When- August 5th from 6:00 pm to 11:45 pm
Where- Just For Fun Rentals
How- Buy a ticket for $65 which includes signature cocktails, jello shots and food, but please feel free to bring your own beverages if you so desire.
Why- All proceeds will go directly to our newest Arthea's Angel or the ALS Association of Central Texas- please let me know if you know of someone fighting this disease!

Just For Fun Rentals
5971 Hiline Rd
Austin, TX 78734
512-266-9710

Questions email Stephanie

About ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) responsible for controlling voluntary muscles (muscle action we are able to control, such as those in the arms, legs, and face). The disease belongs to a group of disorders known as motor neuron diseases, which are characterized by the gradual degeneration and death of motor neurons.

Although the life expectancy of a person with ALS averages about two to five years from the time of diagnosis, this disease is variable, and many people can live with the disease for five years and more. More than half of all people with ALS live more than three years after diagnosis.

Once ALS starts it almost always progresses, eventually taking away the ability to walk, dress, write, speak, swallow, and breathe and shortening the life span. How fast and in what order this occurs is very different from person to person. While the average survival time is 3 years, about twenty percent of people with ALS live five years, 10 percent will survive ten years and five percent will live 20 years or more.

Progression is not always a straight line in an individual either. It is not uncommon to have periods lasting weeks to months where there is very little or no loss of function. There are even very rare examples in which there is significant improvement and recovery of lost function. These ALS "arrests" and "reversals" are unfortunately usually transient. Less than 1% of patients with ALS will have significant improvement in function lasting 12 months or more.

The onset of ALS often involves muscle weakness or stiffness as early symptoms. Progression of weakness, wasting and paralysis of the muscles of the limbs and trunk as well as those that control vital functions such as speech, swallowing and later breathing generally follows. There can be significant costs for medical care, equipment and home health caregiving later in the disease.

Approximately 6,400 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people, and it is estimated that more than 20,000 Americans may be living with ALS at any given time.

ALS occurs throughout the world with no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries and can affect anyone. Military veterans are approximately twice as likely to develop ALS.

Whitney Cottrell Hill

Whitney Cottrell Hill passed away on August 13, 2018 from complications related to ALS. She was born on July 21, 1976 in Ogden, Utah, to Lynn and Susan Cottrell. Whitney graduated from Woods Cross High School in Bountiful and went on to graduate from the University of Utah, majoring in Human Development. She is a proud member and former chapter President of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Throughout her schooling she was fortunate to make many dear and lifelong friends. She met her future husband, David, in the fall of 1998, and they fell deeply in love with each other. David soon suspected that Whitney may have dated half of the people in Salt Lake and was related to the other half. Marriage in the L.D.S. Salt Lake Temple followed seven months later and the Hill family began. She is the love of his life. Whitney gave birth to four beautiful children who love and admire her deeply. She loved to watch her children grow and learn and succeed and live. She attended countless dance performances and school plays, sat in the snow and rain watching hundreds of soccer games, cheered them on at volleyball and basketball, and helped with homework and projects. She volunteered in their classrooms and loved watching them participate in their class activities. She was unrivaled in making their Halloween costumes. They each inherited her spunk, her whit, and her grace. They have her beautiful smile and her great love for people in their hearts. They are her greatest happiness. They are her greatest legacy.

Mary Schulte

Mary incorporated art, music and storytelling into all aspects of her life, and her philosophy was to never stop learning. She was an accomplished sculptor, painter and harpist. Originally from the midwest, Mary majored in Art at the Univ. of Missouri and then received her Masters in Special Education, working over fifteen years in education to inspire children facing challenges. She started her second career as a therapist after receiving her Masters in Social Work from the Univ. of Denver, and for close to twenty years worked with clients to help them creatively discover ways to provide new meaning, purpose and joy in their lives. In her work, she used music therapy, play therapy, art therapy and puppetry, as well as meditation and hypnosis for trauma and pain management. Mary was a lover of nature and having lived in Colorado for decades, she took every chance she could to get in the mountains, drawing inspiration and serenity from their beauty. Mary retired in the spring of 2021 after receiving the diagnosis of ALS. She and her loving husband Charlie, who made her laugh for over 50 years, moved from Denver to San Marcos, Texas, by the Blanco River, to be closer to family. She loved being close to her two amazing kids Katie and Liz and one amazing son-in-law, Justin, as well as her incredible grandchildren Kara, Gaby, Olivia, and Parker, who made Mary smile like no other.

Links

ALSA

ALS Texas