Friends' Donate $4500 To ALS Research Center

Madeleine Gillis, longtime Community Board 1 member, contracted amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease) in 2004. The "Friends of Madeleine", a group of her friends, neighbors and fellow Board 1 members, raised some $12,000 in donations during 2005 and 2006 to help ease the burden of her illness for Madeleine gillis and assist Maryann Gillis, Madeleine's daughter and 24/7 caregiver. Gillis died in December 2006.

On Thursday, July 19, the "Friends of Madeleine" executive committee, Julian Wager, Frances McDonald and Marie Torniali, met at Cup Diner and Bar in Long Island City, where Maryann Gillis presented a check for $4,500, the balance remaining of the funds raised by the "Friends of Madeleine", to Elizabeth McFarland of the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research in Baltimore, Maryland. The Packard Center operates within the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is the only one of its kind dedicated solely to research into finding a cause and cure for ALS. The donation was in accordance with Madeleine and Maryann Gillis' wishes. (L. to r.): "Friends of Madeleine" Executive Committee Member Julian Wager, Elizabeth McFarland of the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryann Gillis, daughter of the late Madeleine Gillis, and "Friends of Madeleine" Executive Committee Members Frances McDonald, Marie Torniali and Lucille Hartmann outside Cup Restaurant, 36- 02 35th Ave., Long Island City.