Building The Future Together

Hunzinger Construction Company employees gathered together to take the #icebucketchallenge in memory of Jeff Kaufman a friend of Hunzinger’s Business Development Associate, Frank Falsetti who was diagnosed with ALS over 20 years ago. In memory of Jeff, Hunzinger employees took the challenge and donated to the ALS Association to raise awareness for this disease and those who are affected by it.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, people with ALS lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which often leads to total paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. There is no cure and only one drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that modestly extends survival.

The #icebucketchallenge was created to not only raise awareness about ALS but to raise money for the Association in order to help combat the disease and support those currently fighting Lou Gehrig ’s disease. To date, the ALS Association has raised $88.5 million in donations compared to $2.6 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 26). These donations have come from existing donors and 1.9 million new donors to The Association.

There has been a tremendous out pouring of support for this campaign and raising awareness for ALS a disease that strikes people between the ages 40 and 70, as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time.

In lieu of nominating others during our challenge Hunzinger urges you to learn more about the ALS Foundation and what they are doing for those dealing with this disease. We all have an obligation to “do the right thing,” donate your time, make a donation, spread the word whether for ALS or another organization of your choice, make a difference by taking the time to support your cause because you can and you care.

For more information on the ALS Association visit http://www.alsa.org/

To view Hunzinger’s Challenge please click here.

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Reflections from Hunzinger’s Business Development Associate, Frank Falsetti on the ALS Challenge and good friend Jeff Kaufman:

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge causes me to reflect on the remarkable life of my friend Jeff Kaufman.

Jeff Kaufman was a rising star in the Milwaukee legal community. A Marquette University Law School Graduate who quickly established himself as a  dynamic young attorney at Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown law firm. Jeff was diagnosed with ALS at age 33 in 1989. Jeff led the fight against the disease for 21 remarkable years before he died in March of 2010. Jeff put up a long, long struggle. He faced this kind of adversity with a smile and great courage.

Jeff and his wife Jan, children, Nora, Ben, Sarah, and Clare, started ALS Association Wisconsin’s “Evening of Hope” fund-raiser with the belief that he could change the world and they did. Their goal was to raise money for research toward a cure. Together they raised millions of dollars to fund the research to find a cure.

For me, The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge gives me the chance to reflect on Jeff’s life’s legacy. I nominated my associates at Hunzinger Construction to join me in the challenge,  17 of my associates did so. This commitment by my work associates is reflective of how our employees service the community we live in.

To the Kaufman, Brennan, Druml, Berghardt families and all those who stood at Jeff’s side for 21 years, we remember Jeff and his amazing life by accepting the challenge in his honor.