COLVILLE, Wash. – KREM 2’s News Director is getting crafty in an effort to help the fight against ALS.
Crafting in Colville isn’t a typical activity for Noah Cooper. He’s better known to his staff as a behind the scene’s kind of guy. But when it comes to raising money and awareness for the fight against ALS, he is front and center.
“There are so many stories to tell. It’s critical to keep up the conversation to find a cure,” said Cooper.
This is what brought him to Colville, where Debbie Thieran and her family and friends are preparing for an ALS fundraiser. Thieran lost her brother Nate Moats to ALS. At an upcoming auction, specially painted picture frames will be auctioned off. The auction will be held at the Fourth Annual Alsso Monte Carlo Night. It will be March 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Spokane showroom.
Painting is just one thing in a long list of efforts by Cooper to put ALS in the spotlight. Cooper completed two Ironman race after becoming inspired by Spokane native, former NFL star and current ALS patient Steve Gleason. He swam, biked and ran toward fundraising goals to help support ALS patients through the Gleason Foundation. It is the faces of people like Gleason and local ALS patients that drive Cooper and the rest of KREM to keep the conversation going.
“That’s one of the biggest things we set out to do is to raise awareness and tell the stories,” Cooper explained.
The stories are designed to build a framework of conversation that creates a foundation for fundraising and support for ALS families. It is the hope that those stories will help create a picture for people of a life without ALS.