Corey Reich, 23, ALS Ambassador for the World's Largest ALS Research Center, will Participate in Events and Meet with Patients and Advocates

SAN FRANCISCO, July 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tomorrow, Corey Reich, an ALS patient from Piedmont, California, will attend both the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball games this July 4th as a representative of the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI). Corey will attend both baseball games to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral scleroses (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease) a neurodegenerative disease of which he suffers and for which there is no known cause or cure.

'My hope is that my presence at both games will help to put a new face on this disease by providing a personal connection to ALS,' said Corey. 'Although it is an orphan disease, I hope to bring larger public awareness and increased funding for research, which could speed up the discovery of therapies for people like me living with ALS.'

Corey was diagnosed in July of 2007, but he had shown symptoms for several years prior. After his diagnosis, he returned to Middlebury College and graduated with honors in May of 2008. He currently is the assistant tennis coach for the Piedmont High School Men's and Women's Tennis Teams. Corey and his family have supported ALS TDI for the past 18 months and have raised more than $700,000 in that time. Fundraising events organized by 'Corey's Crusaders' have included a cocktail party in the Vancouver, Washington area, a running race in Boise, a bake sale in Oakland, a dinner and dance also in Oakland, and another dinner and dance in Bronxville, New York. ALS TDI, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a 501c3 nonprofit charitable organization and the largest research center dedicated solely to the development of therapeutics for this debilitating disease.

Corey's attendance at the Giants' and Angels' games coincides with the culmination of Major League Baseball's '4ALS Awareness' campaign. MLB is working with four leading organizations -- The ALS Association, ALS TDI, Augie's Quest (the Muscular Dystrophy Association's ALS research initiative) and Project A.L.S. -- whose primary goal is to find a cure for ALS. The initiative will culminate on July 4, 2009, which is the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium.