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ALS...Alfredo & Kiki Need our Help

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Alfredo Pedro was working hard to achieve the American Dream.  He overcame an early life full of challenges that most people just see in the movies but he never complained and always had a smile on his face.  

He met Kiki and together they expanded his autobody/bumper business where he employed friends and relatives so that they too could live their dreams.  He took up running within the last few years and became a beloved fixture in the Chicago running and ultra-running communities.

Several months ago Alfredo began finding it hard to run, then to walk and then to even hold a cup.  When the symptoms began to overwhelm him, he sought medical help, only to receive the diagnosis:   ALS.  

This is known by most as Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a progressive disease that causes the brain to lose it's ability to communicate with the muscles in the body. Control over bodily functions and muscle movement becomes less and less until there is no control whatsoever and the patient loses their ability to
not only move but to speak, swallow and even breath. Once the total paralysis sets in, death is usually not far off.  The brain however, remains clear and intact this entire time.

Alfredo's degeneration is happening very rapidly and he and Kiki sincerely need our help.

Alfredo can really no longer work because of his condition (although he tries to go to work one or two days a week but it takes several hours to get him out the door).  Kiki is working 6 days a week, leaving the house after she prepares his breakfast and lunch, works all day and comes home to take care of his needs through the night.

There is no health insurance thus no money for any kind of care.  The money coming into the business needs to go to keep the business alive and pay the employees so that they can survive.  This leaves little or nothing for Alfredo and Kiki's day-to-day needs like food, help with getting Alfredo around, and mounting medical expenses. Even the little things like someone to walk the dog or shovel the snow (Alfredo just had a terrible fall because of the snow and ice on the walk - it took them 1/2 hour in the below zero temperatures to get him up and into the house) is beyond their ability to pay for right now.

They are hoping to raise enough to keep them going day to day and get Alfredo a wheel chair and make the place they live in accessible.

Words can't express the appreciation that Alfredo and Kiki have in their hearts for all of you who have already come forward and helped in so many ways but now they need funds to stay above water.  They have a long and hard road ahead of them.  

Everyone who knows Alfredo and Kiki loves them.  They are the ones who have always been there for everyone else.  Please help us show that we are now there for them.
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Donations 

  • Alice Holliday
    • $100 
    • 8 yrs
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Organizer

Debra Halperin Poneman
Organizer
Chicago, IL

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