Vince Foglia and his wife, Pat
As a lifelong baseball fan, Vince Foglia knew about ALS after having heard Lou Gehrig’s famous speech announcing that he had the disease.
“ALS had always grabbed my attention because it is a cruel disease for which there is no cure.”
After founding Sage Products, a medical device company sold in 2016, Vince runs the Foglia Family Foundation, along with his wife Pat and their two adult children.
Vince had always been interested in the medical field, but he never personally knew anyone who had ALS until he met (the late) Paul Launer through his friend Bob Lee, a former Foundation board member. Paul had asked the Foglia Family Foundation for funding for his ALS Walk for Life team, ‘Paul Launer’s Iron Horse Brigade,’ and Vince provided the funding that was needed for several years.
After being introduced to Teepu Siddique, MD, at the Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine, Vince began funding Dr. Siddique’s ALS research. His partnership and friendship that he developed with Dr. Siddique also helped when a longtime employee of Sage Products was diagnosed with ALS.
“I started helping Dr. Siddique with funding towards his ALS research. Shortly afterwards, I got a visit from an employee in customer service, Julie, who told me that she was just diagnosed with ALS. She was completely devastated. I told her to go to Northwestern and talk with Dr. Siddique. She came back the next day after meeting with him and was more relaxed knowing the facts. Julie continued working for my company for several years following her diagnosis.” Julie lost her battle with ALS earlier this year.
The Foglia Family Foundation supports a wide range of non-profit organizations. After learning about the Les Turner ALS Foundation do from Julie and others, Vince chose the Les Turner ALS Foundation to support for many reasons.
“I got to see firsthand what the people at the Foundation does for people living with ALS and I was so impressed. And I thought, this is a cause that I could get involved in.” He adds, “The thing that I like about the Les Turner ALS Foundation, and why I only support Les Turner for ALS, is because of what they do for the people living with ALS. They work individually with people in their homes providing support services, and I think that is every bit as valuable as research.”
(L to R back) Lauren Webb, Vinnie Foglia, Steve Schapiro, and Andrea Pauls Backman. (front) Vince Foglia
“My family foundation likes to be local. We give almost all our money to charities that are around us – a lot of it goes into healthcare and education. The Les Turner ALS Foundation has been around awhile, and they’ve established themselves. They do an outstanding job helping the people living with ALS. That’s why we support the Les Turner ALS Foundation.”
Vince is committed to the mission of the Les Turner ALS Foundation and will be a philanthropic partner for the rest of his lifetime.
“Julie never quit. She was that kind of person. She had four children, but she continued to work from home following her ALS diagnosis. I have a sweet spot for the Foundation more because of Julie and the friendship that I had with her.”
We can’t thank Vince and the Foglia Family Foundation enough for providing valuable funding towards our support services and care to people living with ALS and their families.
Please consider making a gift so that others, like Paul and Julie, receive the support they need in their fight against ALS.
