Friend and poet Michaela
wrote the sayings for the cards
and helped me fold them

At Principal Park with a
photo of dear friend Judy
whose memory inspired me

When the weather forecast turned blustery, this year’s Walk to Defeat ALS® turned into an Open House, inside on the concourse at Principal Park in Des Moines. I used the occasion to introduce a new set of notecards — “Family and Friends:  Cards to support The ALS Association Iowa Chapter” — to raise money for the Association’s services and research programs. The cards and the pouch they’re bundled in have images from my watercolor paintings showing scenes from the daily lives of people using wheelchairs. The Sisters of St. Francis in Dubuque covered the costs of producing the cards so that all proceeds go to support the cause.

The notecards are sold as a set of six, one of each design, with envelopes in a pouch depicting Walk to Defeat ALS® participants. The price is $25.00 per set (with proceeds going to The ALS Association Iowa Chapter), plus any shipping costs. Contact me (email jomyerswalker@gmail.com) if you’d like to buy some!

It was inspiring to be at the Walk — sometimes it looked like a reunion, with families taking pictures with their loved ones and including photos of those no longer with us. I learned more about ALS and how it affects people even in their 20s. The ALS Association Iowa Chapter works “[t]o discover treatments and a cure for ALS, and to serve, advocate for, and empower people affected by ALS to live their lives to the fullest.”

   
“Porch,” one of the card designs, shows a
peaceful scene of communing with nature
   

Family and Friends
card designs and messages
(click image to view larger;
PDF, approx. 1.1 MB, rev. 17 Oct 2019)