Help with Pam's 24-Hour ALS-related Caregiving Needs

Please also scroll down for recent updates as of June 1-6, 2025.

Our childhood and lifelong friend Pam Merrill Hardy, who has been living with the devastating effects of the disease ALS since her diagnosis in February 2021 at the age of 60, urgently needs help to provide additional in-home, 24/7 caregiving.

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), aka Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Pam is now wheelchair-bound, has a feeding tube and is on supplemental oxygen most of the day and night, yet she greets each new day with a sense of hope, determination and a smile so wide it lights up the room -- the same smile we remember from our days as friends in Glenview Illinois, and over the 50+ years we have known her. Pam communicates either by text or by using her phone to translate text to voice.

Over the past four years, we have all witnessed how Pam and her devoted husband Dodge Hardy have faced the many, and often cruel challenges of ALS with lots of love, faith and amazing strength, supported by their family, friends and their church community in Marianna, Florida.

Pam and Dodge have managed the overwhelming costs and life changes required to support her progressive needs thus far and, like all of us, would prefer not to reach out for assistance. However, Pam now requires 24/7 care and there is simply not enough support from insurance or other sources to cover the cost of the additional caregiving she urgently requires.

Many of us have been caregivers for family members suffering from cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases, and we know how incredibly difficult it can be managing the caregiving needs of a loved one. We want to make sure Pam has the skilled caregiving she needs to maintain her quality of life, despite the challenges of living with ALS.

Please join us in helping Pam and Dodge with her caregiving needs. Funds raised from this appeal will go directly to Pam and Dodge Hardy to provide additional in-home caregiving for Pam. We will all be forever grateful for whatever support you can offer. With love and blessings, Pam's Fundraising Team