ALS Association’s Alabama Chapter Raises $19,000 with CEO Soak

On July 18, the Alabama chapter of ALS Association hosted its second annual CEO Soak to raise funds and awareness for the treatment of ALS at the Bicentennial Park in downtown Huntsville.

Participants walked through the Bicentennial Park splash pad in formal attire. Those “soaked” included company presidents, CEOs, and the ALS Association’s Alabama Chapter’s co-founder. Each had a fundraising goal of $2,500. At the time of the event’s reception, it raised $19,000 for ALS research.

The Alabama chapter of the ALS Association aims to raise a total of $40,000 by the end of the month.

“The ALS Association brought a new challenge to us which was to stand alongside our ALS heroes and the rest of the community to continue to fight for a cure. This means doing whatever it takes to make a livable disease by 2030. … So this is why we’re here today. It’s a corporate version of the Ice Bucket Challenge,” said Kelly Smith, the event’s emcee. 

ALS is a disease that breaks down nerve cells with a life expectancy of 2-5 years after diagnosis and has no known cure.

“It’s a disease that can strike anyone … at any time without warning. And that’s why it’s really important that we’re here today to raise awareness and to raise money, to help the association, support these families, the service that we provide and one that is directly funded by the money that we raised here today. The ALS Association Alabama Chapter hosts several events on a yearly basis. These events include three walks across the state, two sporting clay shoots, and DIY events,” said Alabama chapter co-founder Stuart Obermann. 

Obermann has been involved with ALS awareness since the early 2000s when his 18-year-old son was diagnosed and lived with ALS for 10 years.

Soakees included Tim McCarter, Mathew Banks, Jenny Atkins, Justin Givens, Stuart Obermann, Brian Cook, Scott McDaniel, John McCannon, and Daniel Tan.

The CEO Soak featured a reception from 4-5 p.m. followed by speakers emphasizing the event’s importance, and then finished with the well-dressed CEOs and other executives’ walk through the splash pad. Several guests joked that they’d been soaked by sweat themselves standing out in the heat throughout the course of the event.

By the end of the event, participants, organizers, and guests alike seemed amused by the irony of getting caught in the rain that almost immediately followed the official soak.