by Mollie Rushmeyer
news@thenewsleaders.com
Receiving the diagnosis of ALS (or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative nervous-system disease), could cause a person to turn inward with despair, but not so with Glenn Hommerding.
The late St. Joseph resident and his wife, Brenda, and their children chose instead to give back to the ALS Association through the St. Cloud Walk to Defeat ALS after Glenn’s 2010 diagnosis.
The Hommerdings completed their sixth annual St. Cloud Walk to Defeat ALS at Lake George Sept. 10, and it was the third they’ve done without their inspiration, Glenn, alongside them. Brenda, Glenn’s widow, said of him: “Glenn took his diagnosis with grace and dignity. He never complained. He was brave and wonderful.”
Keeping with his character, after his diagnosis Glenn and his family decided they would form an ALS team, eventually naming it “Glenn’s Harley Walkers” because of his love of motorcycles. They did their first fundraising walk in 2011. About 70 of their friends and family (including their grown sons Matthew, 26; Jeremy, 24; and Tyler, 18) came out to support Glenn and further the research, education, awareness and equipment needed for the ALS Association.
The first year, Brenda said, Glenn and many of his friends rode to the event on almost 20 motorcycles, “loud and proud.” And each year since, their many friends and family continue to participate in memory of Glenn, who passed away from the disease in 2013.
Throughout the years, Glenn’s Harley Walkers team has sold its signature orange-and-black T-shirts to raise money and each year come up with a different saying for their motto based on sayings Glenn used, such as, “Here’s to you. Here’s to me. Best of friends we’ll always be.”
Since their first walk in 2011, the team has raised more than $37,000. This year alone, they surpassed their goal of $4,000, raising $5,923. Even so, Brenda said, “It’s really just a drop in the bucket when you think of the equipment costs for the ALS Association and the families.”
ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s Disease, results in a progressive muscle and neural dysfunction in its victims. That is why the ALS Association helps families with needed equipment to assist in daily activities and communication with their affected loved ones. There’s what is called a Loan Pool through the ALS Association so families can borrow, free of charge, equipment such as wheelchairs, lifting devices, bath chairs and even high-tech, eye-gaze computers for communication. That allows sufferers of the disease to stay in their homes so they can be taken care of by loved ones — something Brenda said was especially important to their family.
Besides providing for the physical needs, the ALS Association also gives emotional care through their support groups. Brenda said while going through Glenn’s illness, the support groups helped her and her family to feel as though they weren’t going through it alone, saying, “It helped to be around people going through what you are, at various stages, and support each other.”
Brenda is now paying it forward by co-facilitating the St. Cloud ALS Support Group.
“It feels good,” she said, “to give back. These are shoes I’ve already walked in, and if I can make a difference by leaving a fingerprint on their life that they can take with them . . . then that’s great. That’s everything.”
Besides the support group, Brenda said she has found a comaraderie and a family within the many people they’ve met doing the St. Cloud Walk to Defeat ALS, adding the walk is a form of family reunion each year.
“We connect with others going through that journey or (who) went through it along with us,” she said.
Each year brings new faces and the absences of those who lost their battle with the disease, but even so, Brenda said it’s a good time for families and a time to honor loved ones affected by ALS. She said it’s typically $75 per person, and each team participating does a different fundraiser. The teams circle Lake George in St. Cloud three times, and there is face painting, T-shirt stenciling and team picnics to follow.
Goals for next year, Brenda said, are to increase awareness of this currently incurable disease and to keep increasing their donation to the ALS Association so one day there will be a cure.
“We count our blessings that we have so much support,” she said. “It still blows my mind how one person (Glenn) could touch so many lives. He was a person who took others under his wing, and (who taught them) to run with life. Glenn used to say how lucky he was to have me, but I was lucky to have him.”
The legacy of Glenn Hommerding lives on through his many family and friends. And Brenda said she will continue on with her work and fundraising with the ALS Association in part, “so we can say we were a part of that cure, when it happens.”
Even though the fundraising walk is done for the year, another is in the planning stages set for the first full weekend in September, and individual and business donations can be given throughout the year at webmn.alsa.org. Donors are welcome to give in honor or memory of loved ones. Through the website, people can also find ways to join or create a team for the next St. Cloud Walk to Defeat ALS.
At their first St. Cloud Walk to Defeat ALS in 2011, a year after Glenn Hommerding’s diagnosis, he was still well enough to ride his motorcycle to the event. Pictured here with his sons and wife are (left to right) Matthew, Jeremy, Brenda, Glenn on his motorcycle, and Tyler Hommerding.
Glenn Hommerding of St. Joseph was diagnosed with ALS – sometimes known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease – in 2010. This inspired him and his family to help raise funds and awareness for the ALS Association. His love of Harley’s helped create their team name, Glenn’s Harley Walkers.
Some of Glenn’s Harley Walkers team (from left to right) Kayla Zabinski, Tyler, Brenda and Kathy Hommerding, Rachel Lange and Matthew and Jeremy Hommerding. All wear their signature orange T-shirts during the Walk to Defeate ALS fundraiser held Sept. 10 in St. Cloud.
