Community Corner

"Stormin' 4 Norman" Walks in Memory of Manalapan Man's ALS Battle

Norman Holzberg, who lost his life ten years ago to ALS, is being remembered on Saturday at the New York City Walk to Defeat ALS.

This Saturday, May 5, thousands of people will gather in New York for the New York City Walk to Defeat ALS. “Stormin’ 4 Norman”, one of the teams participating in the walk, sponsored by the ALS Association Greater New York Chapter, are walking in memory of a Manalapan man who died of ALS 10 years ago.

The “Stormin’ for Norman” Team is walking for Norman Holzberg, a Manalapan resident who lost his life to ALS in 2002 after battling with the disease for sixteen years. Norman’s daughter, Shara, is the captain of the “Stormin’ for Norman” team, which was founded seven years ago with the mission to fight for a cure so that no other person has to suffer from ALS.

Since the organization was founded, over $75,000 has been raised and contributed to the ALS Association, which has supplied $48 million to research over the past ten years, according to the organization.

ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a fatal neuromuscular disease with no known cure. The disease slowly takes away a person’s ability to walk, speak, swallow, and breathe, and after a person is a diagnosed the average life expectancy is two to five years, according to the ALS Association.

“ALS currently affects 30,000 people a year in the U.S. alone, with an estimated 5,600 new cases each year,” the ALS Association said. “Money raised allows the ALS Association to enhance the quality of life for victims of this horrible disease, while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure.”

For more information about ALS and the services the ALS Association Greater New York Chapter provides, please visit their website at www.als-ny.org, make a donation, or come walk in Norman’s memory on Saturday.

The New York City Walk begins at 11 a.m. with check-in at 9:30 a.m. at the Hudson River Park; the walk is three miles.

Please consider signing up to walk or making a donation.

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