Golf tournament to help patients with Lou Gehrig's Disease

PALM BEACH, FL -- A group of Breakers’ employees who formed the “Chef’s Brigade” to raise money for the South Florida Chapter of the ALS Association, will host their first charity golf tournament on Saturday, November 7, 2009, at 12:30 p.m. at The Breakers Rees Jones Course in West Palm Beach.

The tournament fee is $125 per golfer and $500 for a foursome, which includes beverages, light snacks, a reception after the tournament and prizes. 

To register, call JoAnn Schulz at (561) 659-8434.

The Chef’s Brigade was established in 2002 in honor of Matthias Radits, the pioneering and esteemed former executive chef of The Breakers resort (1989-2001), who passed away in 2006 at the age of 52 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. 

“Chef Radits was a renaissance chef who was ahead of his time, and an amazing and generous mentor whose talent was only matched by his charisma -- in and out of the kitchen,” said Kevin Walters, vice president of food & beverage of The Breakers.

Co-chairpersons Kevin Walters, Michele Wilde and JoAnn Schulz from The Breakers have engaged sponsors including Coca-Cola, Southern Wine and Spirits, National Distributing, American Culinary Federation, Breakers West and Coastal Wine and Spirits.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord resulting in muscle weakness and atrophy.

Every 90 minutes, a person is diagnosed with ALS and the average life expectancy is two to five years.

Approximately 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year.

The incidence of ALS is two per 100,000 people, and it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans may have the disease at any given time.