On Saturday, May 11, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m at Peterson Park which (4400 Southwood Dr, Lincoln, NE 68512,) LSW Student Council (StuCo) will be hosting a pickleball tournament to raise money for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). LSW will be sending all the proceeds to ALS in the Heartland which is an organization that provides support and care for people with ALS. ALS is a disease that breaks down the nervous system, muscles and the brain functions. LSW StuCo will merge with the National Honors Society to work together to raise money for ALS. 

“We have a Student Council member whose family has ALS and my grandfather died from ALS. So this kind of hit home for a lot of us in our group,” StuCo advisor Mrs. Sarah Hammers said. “We wanted to do something for others in their name.”

ALS in the Heartland was founded in 2006 and has helped thousands of individuals with ALS. There mission is to helps to try to provide the highest quality of support to people with ALS

There will be an entry fee of $5 and a signup sheet at the front of the courts. LSW students can sign up for the pickleball tournament and anyone else who wants to sign up.

“We thought it would be a good way to get more fundraising in and, pickleball has become really big,” StuCo president junior Kasch Faustman said. “Everyone loves pickleball tournaments and anyone can pick up a paddle. We thought it would be very accessible.”

People can show up with their own pickleball equipment, but pickleball equipment will be provided if needed.

“It is more personal to me because I had a neighbor that suffered from ALS,” StuCo member senior Lucy Carey said. “I didn’t know of ALS until my neighbor had suffered from it and I also was a part of the ALS walk last summer. And I think raising awareness to it is really important.”