First post

Hey folks!

I'm Joe's Brother, and welcome to our little corner of the internet. I hope you'll join me on this adventure and see what we can accomplish together. I'm not sure where this will eventually go, but I'm hoping it goes big. I would love to change the way people think about there life in a way that affects real-positive change in lives of our friends, family and even strangers. I know that's a tall order, but I believe that even the smallest efforts can have big pay-offs. 

My brother Joe and I where very close, so as you might imagine, when he was diagnosed with ALS I was devastated. We both knew it was a death sentence. Our Father had suffered the same fate in the late 1990's. I will refrain from going into detail at this time because quite frankly it's depressing to think about. The pain of loss is still very strong. It's bad enough to lose one family member from this horrible disease, but two is even worse.

So Joe's Brother Coffee is born! To honor the memory of my brother Joe and everyone else who has been touched by ALS. So please join me in this quest to raise awareness and money to help find a treatment and ultimately a cure for ALS.

Just what is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) 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. 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.

You can learn more about the ALS Association at their website www.alsa.org