Michelle Niewald Marketing Portfolio

M/N Michelle Niewald

Strategic Communication Graphic Design Photography

hello there.

My name is

Michelle Niewald.

I am a junior

Marketing, Public Relations & Advertising major at Stephens College in Columbia, MO. Even as an undergrad, I already have extensive industry experience. I currently serve as an account executive for Creative Ink, the only collegiate student-run marketing agency in the state of Missouri. I serve as the communications director for Stephens Life, the on-campus magazine. I am a social media intern for the fabulous online nutrition and wellness magazine, College Lifestyles, and just wrapped up a summer marketing/graphic design internship at Axis Promotions in the heart of New York City.

My philosophy “There is a tide in the affairs of men...�

Create through innovation and imagination.

Concept new ideas. Push the envelope.

Laugh at the unknown. Build.

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Strategic Writing

Missouri Citizens for the ARts Audrey webb child study center Public Relations Plan Creative Ink Website

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Missouri Citizens for the Arts Using case study states such as Arizona and Minnesota, it is clear that there are a few things they are doing that we are not. Specifically: 1.Extensive use of social media a.Each state posts on Facebook frequently (3-4 times per week).

Activity includes upcoming arts events throughout the states, news articles about various topics, such as funding cuts, why the arts are important, etc., celebrity endorsement facts, and lobbying/ session updates. Going back, posts become more frequent right before 1 M/N Portfolio

and during congressional session. b. Twitter does not generate as big of a following as Facebook.

However, it is still an appropriate output for information. Tweets are posted more frequently than Facebook updates, sometimes averaging 2-3 tweets per day.

Tweets are less interactive than Facebook and include more statistics. c. Blogs are an option, but not necessary.

2. Website Design a. MCA’s graphic design is

beautiful and thoughtfully laid out, but Minnesota’s is more accessible. It features clickable boxes that link to educational components, including “Join Now” and “Advocacy 101” to simplify the experience for the consumer. Accessibility is key to increasing numbers of supporters.

In addition to the educational and event driven brochures and new branding materials (business cards, letterhead and envelopes), the following represent marketing and media tactics that will best

advertise MCA and increase awareness for the arts.

1. Social Media Plan: Facebook and Twitter a. Post to Facebook and Twitter during peak hours.

According to the marketing agency Ogilvy + Mather, the peak times for social media are on Saturdays and Sundays, whereas weekend posts get approx. 69% more interaction (Ogilvy + Mather, 2012). i. Facebook posts should include more personal posts as to connect with the audience, like statistics and the potential damage that cut funding can do, while Twitter should include more

instant updates, such as photo updates during lobbying and hashtag elements that followers can engage in to build awareness on the web. b. Include graphic design elements to both Facebook and Twitter accounts. This includes a cover photo for Facebook and background for Twitter that stick closely with the MCA brand.

2. Public Service Announcements a. MCA, with the assistance of Creative Ink, will develop a PSA for local radio stations to play throughout the state of Missouri.

St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia and Jefferson City have the highest

traffic, so the most people will hear a PSA in these cities. They can be played frequently before session begins and continue throughout months. Since air time is donated, PSA’s can be developed for very little cost. A 20-30 second PSA will be best, meaning it will consist of 40-75 words. i. The best way to monitor success of the PSA is by calling listeners to action, such as by inviting them to visit the website and “Join now!” ii. Stephens College also has access to CAT TV and many theatre students, so filming a PSA is also a strong idea.

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implement the new media plan: 1. Hootsuite a. Hootsuite is the simplest and most common way to synchronize social media accounts. The free version offers use with up to five social profiles, free quick reports that offer Google Analytics, message scheduling and two RSS/ Atom Feeds. This way, posts can be made during free time and scheduled on HootSuite for peak hours and important upcoming dates and events. b. Reports will help monitor the success of marketing plans. If Google reports low traffic during some hours, posting times can be reevaluated and improved upon.

Also, it will show which site draws 3 M/N Portfolio

the most followers. Posts should frequently include direct links to the “Join Now” and advocacy sections of the website; this will help make the website more accessible.

2. Campaigning for PSA’s a. Prerecording a PSA will be easy, but even if MCA decides to have DJs read it aloud, we must draft a letter requesting the reading/playing of the Public Service Announcement. The letter will include the cause and importance of MCA along with the copy or recording. It is best to send out letters to many stations, as some may choose not to support the cause. b. If MCA chooses to go the

television route, the same process will carry for sending the PSA to television stations. l

Full project components

1. Business card design 2. Letterhead design 3. Envelope creation 4. Marketing plan 5. Membership brochure design 6. Research for future tactics My role? Account executive and copy writer.

Missouri Citizens for the Arts

Missouri Citizens for the Arts MCA HONORARY CHAIRPERSON First Lady Georganne Nixon 2012-2013 BOARD OFFICERS Carol Gregg, President Teresa Fankhauser, Vice President Kate Poss, Treasurer Susan Schmelzer, Secretary

P.O. Box 10026 Columbia, MO 65205

REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS Harlan Brownlee, Kansas City Michael Gaines, Northeast Alison Schieber, Northwest Lori Ann Kinder, Southeast Leah Hamilton, Southwest Kate Poss, St. Louis Stacey Morse, St. Louis BOARD OF DIRECTORS Barb Berendzen, Kirksville Sharon Beshore, Joplin Harlan Brownlee, Kansas City Marsha Campbell, Kansas City Patricia Churchill, Jefferson City Drue Duncan, Columbia Barb Enneking, St. Louis Teresa Fankhauser, St. Joseph Michael Gaines, Hannibal Dr. Robert Gifford, Cape Girardeau Carol Gregg, Chillicothe Marie Nau Hunter, Columbia Leah Hamilton, Southwest Marianne Kilroy, Kansas City Lori Ann Kinder, Cape Girardeau Jill McGuire, St. Louis Stacey Morse, Chesterfield Daniel Pfeifer, Kansas City Kelly Lamb Pollock, St. Louis Kate Poss, St. Louis Claudia Sands, Rolla Jeff Sandquist, Rolla Melissa Scott, Springfield Alison Schieber, St. Joseph Susan Schmelzer, Kansas City Cynthia Siebert, Kansas City W. Scott Swain, Columbia Greg Swarens, Kansas City Deedra Von Fange Kutney, Farmington MCA EDUCATION FUND ADVISORY COUNCIL Dr. Dixie Kohn Margaret J. Scott Franklin F. Wallis Barney White LEGISLATIVE CONSULTANT Kyna Iman EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sarah Skaggs

573.222.0278

advocates @ mo4arts.org www.mo4arts.org

Business card design Letterhead design

Missouri Citizens for the Arts P.O. Box 10026 Columbia, MO 65205 P.O Box 10026 Columbia, MO 65205

M i s s our i C it ize n s for t he A r t s 573-222-0278

www.mo4arts.org advocates@mo4arts.org

Envelope Design

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audrey webb child study center Based on several case studies and price, the following represent the best advertising options for local publications in Columbia, MO.

Columbia Daily Tribune

a. Ads can run either every other week for a month or for a few weeks in a month on more days.

Ad Tip: Run larger ads in more months to cut down on costs. A 20 percent frequent ad discount is given to those who purchase advertisement packages three or 5 M/N Portfolio

more months at a time. b. Black and white is best for recognizability and affordability.

You can run more for less cost. c. Run in January, July, August and September throughout the years to acquire most traffic to the school. d. Ad must be a minimum of 15 column inches and must repeat within the same seven day week as the first full price insertion. Offers a 25% discount from a single run.

Inside Columbia Magazine a. Run smaller ads in

more important months with emphasis on special edition months: November, January, April (parent special edition), May or September. b. Inside Columbia will be more expensive because ads will run in full color, but is still less expensive than the magazine’s competitors (i.e. Columbia Home Magazine). c. Side bar and postcard size ads will attract the most attention for the best price.

Full project components

1. Discover two best options for advertisement in Columbia, MO publications.

2. Create a visual identity and ads for the Audrey Webb Child Study Center to increase enrollment.

My role? Account executive and copy writer.

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Public relations plan Background: Everyone Eats Food Bank has been the most successful food bank in the area for the past 20 years. Everyone Eats serves approximately 100,000 meals each year and is generally very successful in gaining food donations. It holds a strong reputation as a charitable contributor to community life. United Way, a donator of corporate gifts and food, is the main source of funding. However, this year has been quite rough on Everyone Eats. Food scarcity has

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never been a problem, but there is a shortage of food and this winter is forecasted to be worse than ever.

Goal: The goal of this public relations plan is to increase philanthropy within the community and alter the perceptions of Everyone Eats Food Bank. Many believe that one homeless people use the bank, but this is a mere misconception.

We will strategically educate community members while raising donations for the food bank,

giving a measurable outcome off success. Furthermore, this plan will act as precedent for possible future shortcomings.

Audiences: Community members Including leaders Local media Newspapers, radio, television Past contributors Possible contributors Churches and youth groups Parent Teacher Association Boy Scouts of America

Girl Scouts of America Local shelters Local school district (K-12) Local businesses Research: According to food bank director Brenda DiCarlo, food banks often see a drop-off in donations after the holiday season. This lull, however, has come especially early this year (DiCarlo, 2011).

For one in every six people in the U.S., hunger is an extreme reality (Feeding America).

Average people use food banks that others would not expect because poverty is so easily concealable in

today’s society (Feeding America).

Community Support Advocates, or CSA, reports that community support and involvement empowers individuals and boosts morale (Team CSA, 2008) Objectives: • Build awareness of the disparity in food donations within three months of the campaign’s launch.

• Increase community support by 25% measured by the amount of volunteers coming in and number of food donations • Have a sufficient amount of food with the required nutritional value

by November 1.

Strategies/Key Messages: • For 20 years, Everyone Eats Food Bank has been this county’s premiere supplier of food donations to the needy.

• Our organization facilitates philanthropic spirit and shows a dedication to our mantra: Everyone Eats.

• No one deserves to go hungry for even one day. Everyone Eats prevents this from happening, one mouth at a time.

• Everyone Eats depends on private grants and consumer donations to keep feeding the needy.

• We are passionate about our

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cause and will not stop until we can ensure that we have enough food to help community members through the harsh winter season. • The food bank boosts community involvement and even teaches the younger generation the value of helping others. • A simple food donation will feed a family in danger of going hungry.

Tactics/Implementation: Potential Volunteers/Donors Brochures on the benefits of helping with Everyone Eats will be put in grocery bags at the grocery store as a reminder.

Send local businesses these

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brochures as well.

Include that this is a tax deductible gift.

Schools Provide newsletters for students and their parents.

Speakers from Everyone Eats will speak at PTA meetings and school assemblies.

Add incentives for students.

These tactics will encompass the general public. Everyone Eats will send out a newsletter to schools so that younger students can take them home to their parents and hopefully donate food. This will include the benefits of helping

and explain why the cause is so important. Increasing donors and volunteers is crucial to the success of the food bank this winter. Brochures and newsletters will inform parents, students, and other school members of the disparity and encourage them to get involved however they possibly can.

Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts Send out information to troop leaders.

Encourage these groups to volunteer and hold food drives It can be a contest among troops.

Either way, scouts will get patches.

Media Schedule meetings with the local media (Newspaper, news, radio).

Ask for help getting the word out to the community.

Press Releases to local newspaper.

Press conferences.

Media Day-introduce plan to the community from CEO of Everyone Eats By involving the media and key members of the community, Everyone Eats is increasing publicity of the cause. This will be helpful in two ways: it will help the food bank and help the image of the community.

Press We will host a variety of events to open the public’s eyes to the cause. Press releases will spark journalistic interest in the cause.

The press conference will act as an opportunity for the community to receive the information first hand, understanding the problem and analyzing the solutions we are proposing.

Timeframe of the plan Our strategic communication plan will not just stop after the beginning of the journey.

Throughout the three month campaign, we will keep sending

updates of milestones, including money earned, number of food donations, new volunteers, and new proponents of the cause.

Miscellaneous Tactics Communications Evaluation There is really no good in doing anything without checking the status of tactics. Therefore, every two weeks, we will review the process and evaluate what has and has not been successful. This will leave room for improvement.

Weekly Team Meetings Every week, the PR team will

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meet with members of the food bank to set new goals, review communications, and reevaluate upcoming strategies.

These meetings will follow a relatively strict agenda to be time efficient. We will also invite a new influential community member every week to receive feedback from.

Research We will have a research and development intern (unpaid) who will study similar campaigns, both past and present. This will provide our team with insight to improvements while providing a student with hands-on experience 11 M/N Portfolio

in a public relations campaign.

Evaluation The overall success of the campaign will depend mostly on the achievement of the first set of our goals. The amount of food donated and number of volunteers will act as a tangible measure of success.

We will send follow up surveys, scaled-response, to two different groups. One will be to those who volunteered and donated, and the second will be to random households. The first will help the food bank evaluate their tactics and outreach, whereas the second will help our PR company

evaluate our tactics and learn for the future. Volunteers will also list pros and cons of their experience in addition to our scaled-response questions.

Full project components

Create a public relations plan and media kit for the food bank “Everyone Eats.�

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Meet the Team

What’s on Our Minds?

Since we cannot give our designers and reps a standing ovation all of the time, we decided to dedicate an entire section to some amazing projects. So applaud away...and don’t hold back.

When ambition meets dedication, beautiful things like Creative Ink are born. Learn more about our outstanding team of marketing rockstars here!

Do the terms “client intake” and “brainstorming sessions” send chills of excitement down your spine? If so, Creative Ink may be the place for you. Apply to join for fall 2012 now!

In Creative Ink, nothing sparks our interest quite like a brand new marketing hashtag. Consider this section the Twitter of the marketing world.

Professional Tips

Contrary to Burrows, Weinstock and Gilbert, succeeding in business (or any other career) actually has a lot to do with trying, including hard work, sweat and those “AHA!” moments of clarity. Here we have compiled a list of our favorite professional tips. Trust us...this is what we live for!

Full project components

Write and edit copy for the Creative Ink website.

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G/D Graphic design

Inside ColumbiA Magazine Spread Stephens Life Magazine Design ALS Association Infographic

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Inside Columbia Magazine Spread

“His No. 1 rule, “make no mistakes,” had been shattered.”

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32 October 2012 INSIDE COLUMBIA

LOST IN THE WILD

A Story of Survival in the Last Frontier

S

By Whitney Dreier Photos By L.G. Patterson

tuart Nelson Jr. paddled his kayak expertly down the Little Wind River. The late August weather was warm and sunny, despite Nelson’s proximity to the Arctic Circle. Eroding spruce trees dangled from steep riverbanks into the water, their limbs dancing with the current in a deep, fast rhythm.

“The thought went through my mind to be really careful here,” 58-year-old Nelson says. “These were not simple annoyances; they were serious obstacles.” No sooner had Nelson reminded himself of the dangerous situation than he rounded a bend and plowed straight into a fortress of heaving branches.

“I knew I was going to hit it,” he recalls. “There was no way I could miss it.”

The boat hit the sweeper, flipped over and became tangled in spruce boughs. “Well, this could be it,” thought Nelson, who, even with his life jacket on, couldn’t tell up from down as he descended below the water’s surface.

The Nelson family moved to Columbia from Kissimmee, Fla., when Nelson’s father accepted a position with the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Being a kid in Missouri, I loved the outdoors,” says Nelson, who spent much of his free time canoeing and camping around the state.

The family traveled to Alaska in 1967, and it was there that Nelson had his first taste of the Last Frontier. “I went up to that big country, saw the land, the beautiful rivers, the mountains,” Nelson remembers. “It captured my imagination.”

Nelson, a Hickman High School alumnus, later attended veterinary school at MU. In 1995, he became the chief veterinarian for the Iditarod Dog Sled Race — although because the 1,161-mile race across Alaska is a once-a-year event (beginning the first Saturday in March), Nelson also practices in Sandpoint, Idaho. “The Iditarod is my full-time part-time job,” he jokes.

Every August, Nelson takes a “river month” in the Canadian wilderness. He’s completed 18 solo kayak trips, which adds up to about 6,000 miles of paddling in the Yukon.

All of those trips have ended successfully — except his 2010 expedition. “This year was the first time I didn’t come out on my own,” he says. “I had to be rescued.”

When Nelson crawled out of the river on the afternoon of Aug. 23, his boat was pinned under the branches of the dying spruce. He felt stunned, shocked from the collision and the icy water. His No. 1 rule, “make no mistakes,” had been shattered.

“I had to be rescued.”

Full project components 1. Complete a client intake with creative director of the magazine 2. Research & ideate 3. Present final product to the creative director of Inside Columbia Magazine

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H

e climbed onto the tree and tried to free his boat. He pushed and pulled without success. He held onto the on sweeper and jumped on the kayak, which caused the current to spit the craft into the raging current. Nelson plummeted under water once more and realized his No. 2 rule was now broken: Never get separated from your boat.

He tried to swim after his kayak — and the items stowed inside, which included his passport, cash, credit cards, driver’s license and satellite phone — but more sweepers intervened. He felt himself growing heavier in the water and crawled to the shore. He walked along Little Wind for seven hours with no sign of the boat. Around 11 p.m., he lay down to rest.

Nelson awoke at dawn and continued his search, eating wild currents and blueberries as he walked. By the time he reached the larger

Wind River, he’d accepted that his boat was gone. Suddenly, he heard an airplane flying down the Little Wind. Clad in neutral colors, he jumped wildly and ran sideways, hoping to move into the pilot’s line of sight.

“My natural instinct was to yell,” he says, “which was totally stupid because he couldn’t hear me.”

The plane passed, and Nelson began to assess his situation. A large gravel bar sprawled along the confluence of the Little Wind and Wind Rivers. “What do I need for survival?” he thought, reviewing the area for food, shelter and firewood potential. A small depression protected from the wind by thick bushes seemed like a good place to set up camp.

His camp, of course, was limited to the supplies attached to his person at the time of the crash. Fortunately for Nelson, he’d been wearing a life preserver with

“It’s not survival gear if it’s not on your body.”

“His camp, of course, was limited to the supplies attached to his person...”

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1. Life preserver with two large pockets 2. Flammable sterno 3. Space blanket 4. 30 feet of parachute cord 5. Three fishing lures 6. Fishing line 7. Water-resistant dry pants 8. Polypro shirt 9. Windbreaker 10. Flimsy fisherman shoes.

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two large pockets he’d sewn on years ago.

Inside those pockets were two lighters, a signal mirror, a folding knife, a wire saw, flammable Sterno, a space blanket, tincture of iodine, 30 feet of parachute cord, three fishing lures and a fishing line. On his body, he wore water-resistant dry pants, a polypro shirt, a windbreaker and flimsy fisherman shoes. That was going to have to be enough.

Nelson had never been in a survival situation before, although he’d always made an effort to learn about the wilderness by reading and talking to people. Common sense told him to pace himself, to establish a routine. He spent his mornings collecting berries and firewood. He started at the farthest reaches of the gravel bar so that if he grew weak later, he wouldn’t have far to travel far for nourishment and

supplies. He spent the bulk of his days watching the river and reflecting signals into the air with a mirror he wore on a cord around his neck. He tore his space blanket into flags in hopes the reflective material might catch the eyes of paddlers or pilots. One day, he tried unsuccessfully to light a tree on fire. On the riverbanks, he spelled “SOS” and “HELP” with rocks and sticks.

His hands became blistered from hauling logs for the fire he kept going ‘round the clock. He gathered spruce boughs for a bed. He lay by the fire at night and wore his sunglasses to protect his eyes from the heat. He wasn’t afraid of being alone, but he did worry about hypothermia — the temperature might drop unexpectedly this time of year. One evening, “it just poured down rain like a good old Missouri thunderstorm,” Nelson recalls. He grew colder as his fire grew smaller. “That whole night, every time I woke up, it was like someone was there saying: ‘You’ve got to get up, you have to stoke the fire.’ ” He made it through the night alive.

Nelson also worried about grizzly bear encounters and moose attacks, and about losing a fishing lure, which is why he rationed himself to one foot-long grayling trout a day.

He worried that people wouldn’t start looking for him until Sept.

11, when he was scheduled to fly from Anchorage to Idaho. “If I don’t make it by then, someone will come look for me,” he thought.

“This could easily be a two-week deal by the time people realize I’m substantially overdue.”

On the 10th day, Nelson prayed. “Being a Christian, there’s a provision for heaven and salvation; if I die, that’s the way it is.”

He was comforted by the notion that at least he was doing something he enjoyed. “As soon as I finished that prayer, the sky opened up,” he remembers. “This bright sunshine shone down on me for five or 10 minutes, then closed up; that’s pretty impressive.”

Three days later, the sun came out for good. That afternoon, Nelson dried his socks by the fire and applied iodine to an infected toenail. He stood up, glanced down the river and saw three red canoes floating 100 yards downstream. “I ran down the gravel bar, jumping and yelling,” he recalls of his barefooted sprint.

“They had seen all my markers, but I was in a hole, so they didn’t actually see me.”

The travelers, a Swiss-Canadian, four Swiss and one German, set up camp across the river before visiting Nelson. The stranded veterinarian explained his situation, and the group invited Nelson to eat and camp with them. That evening, Nelson slept under the stars by the fire, preferring not to use his new companions’ spare tent because “a cold tent is a cold tent.”

Initially, the group was wary of another person upsetting the

should accompany them back to civilization. “Now I became a team member,” he says, and immediately began thinking of ways he could earn his keep on this new expedition. He decided to be the fire keeper; every morning, he collected wood, started a fire and heated water.

The septet traveled five more days across various rapids; Nelson sat in the middle of a canoe, a dangerous spot that almost caused the boat to capsize. “Thank goodness we didn’t because I wasn’t into doing that again,” he says.

be rescued. But the group had a change

he says. “That’s what this whole story is about.”

balance of their canoes and planned to leave Nelson with enough food until he could

of heart and decided Nelson

Nelson’s sister, Kimberly, is the food services director for Columbia’s Women’s & Children’s Hospital. On Sept. 9, she received a call from Dr. John Moody, who hadn’t heard from his veterinary partner and thought Nelson might be missing. A search-and-rescue team was being assembled and wanted to speak to Kimberly.

“Oh my gosh, Stuart’s lost,” she thought after the call. “Oh my gosh.” Kimberly and her 86-year-old mother had thought perhaps Nelson’s lack of communication was due to a dead satellite phone battery.

Kimberly learned that Black Sheep Aviation was scheduled to pick up a group of six paddlers in Taco Bar on Sept. 10. Search and rescue wanted to talk to those people before launching a rescue mission — perhaps they knew something about Nelson’s situation.

“I started to pray,” Kimberly says. “I said: ‘Dear Lord, let six turn into seven. Let Stuart come out with these people.’ ”

On the afternoon of Sept. 10, the red canoe trio paddled into Taco Bar and waited for the plane that would fly them to Mayo.

When the pilot arrived, Nelson introduced himself. “The whole world is looking for you!” the man exclaimed.

When Nelson visited his mother and sister in Columbia during the holidays, he told his story to the congregation of the Evangelical Free Church. He wore his life preserver and pulled items out of the oversized pockets as he spoke.

“I just saw a wonderful part of my brother,” Kimberly says. “I learned Stuart was sensible; he plans these trips so intelligently … it’s been wonderful to have him alive.”

What has Nelson learned?

“It’s not survival gear if it’s not on your body,” u

“The whole world is looking for you!”

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Stephens Life Magazine Design Full project components

1. Attend client intake session with staff advisor 2. Research and ideate 3. Create a visual identity guide for the new magazine 4. Present final project to staff advisor 5. Submit to student body for voting

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ALS Association Infographic Full project components 1. Create and implement an informational product that fills a missing niche in the marketplace.

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Final size 17 x 26 in.

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ALS: The 1.Start

ide

The Journey 2.

Brain

Be on the lookout.

3.

nal

Sig

Most report not being able to lift their right arm as the

first symptom.

rve

Ne

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-Lou Gherig

te Gu

mple

A Co

“You have to get knocked down to realize how people really feel about you. I’ve realized that more than ever lately. I might have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

Other symptoms

include thickness of speech, twitching and cramping of muscles, difficulty breathing, impaired ability to swallow, difficulty projecting the voice, impaired use of arms and legs, and consistent muscle strain o r we a k n e s s t h ro u g h o u t certain areas of the body.

For 10-15% of diagnoses,

Too weak to complete

patients get a false positive. They are told they have ALS, but, in the end, another disease or condition is discovered to be the real problem.

The labyrinth is a symbol for the connection between conscious thought and unconscious intent.

Start

In an actual labyrinth, there is one way in and one way out. It is the journey inside that counts.

ALS patients face the same fate. At this moment, there is no cure for ALS and no effetive treatment.

In fact, the causes are not entirely known either.

Diagnosis is a death wish; it is not a question of “if,” but rather of “when.” This is a reality for too many.

me

Ti Quiz

a. Contagious. b. Predictable. c. Genetic.

ALS is none of the above.

Because of the unique nature of the disease, there is no way to detect the progression or generational inheritance.

It is not a communicable disease, so simply being in the same room as a victim will not infect you or anyone else.

It can happen to anyone You can’t guess how or when it will strike. Some come quickly others are virtually undetectable, While not every case is terrible, every case will result in death. Studies show that there are some drugs that can slow the progression, but in the end, the same fate will meet every victim.

Labyrinth Colleqgues

Friends

Neighbors

Family

People fighting ALS find themselves in a battle between giving up and having hope.

For some, they are able to live up to 43 years. Others do not even survive the first year. ALS affects more than just the holder.

It affects families, friends and communities.

But we will not give up. We will not let those who have lost die in vain. We will keep on fighting until there’s a cure, because all we have is our hope in what the future holds.

Lou Gherig’s Diseae.

Motor Neuron Disease.

ALS. Slice it any way you want.

but what is it?

Amyothropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gherig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body.

Types of Nerves Hearing

Vision

Motion

Sensation

The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death.

When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

-ALS Association

how does it happen?

The nerves that are affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle power.

Examples of voluntary movements are your making the effort to reach for the phone or step off a curb; these actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs.

For

instance,

What do

k Quic s Stat

The Creator of Sesame Street Stephen Hawking

Lou Gherig

all have in common?

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Median age of those diagnosed with ALS

Two in every 100,000 people worldwide are diagnosed each year.

Sesame St.

All had ALS.

50% of patients die within the first two years of diagnosis.

Healthy

vs.

Atrophied

ALS is a double edged sword. On one hand, it is a terrible thing that there is no definite information on the disease. We don’t know what causes it or any effective treatment.

On the other hand, there is still much awareness to be raised for it. Each cause represents an individual case study. The costs are high, but are well worth it. As the disease progresses through the years, we don’t know what effects will come to light. There are still so many unanswered questions. But despite all these things,

You can help.

Don’t let another life go unsaved.

Make a contribution today. www.als.org/donate

ALS Fund

$

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P/G photography

Summer in the city restore joplin ApperatureCanon rebel

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summer in the city

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Restore joplin

T/Y thank you!

I hope you enjoyed my stuff. <

Contact niewaldm@gmail.com< www.twitter.com/mniewald michelleniewald.wordpress.com