On Sunday, April 23, 2017 members of the Texas Tech fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), will host a fundraising event at Urbanovsky Park from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to benefit local charity, Alström Angels. This marks the second year the students chose the Lubbock nonprofit as a beneficiary of the event to help children battling a rare disease called Alström Syndrome.
Alström Syndrome affects children by causing complete blindness, deafness, type 2 diabetes, dilated cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, COPD, and kidney and liver failure. With less than 1,000 patients documented in medical history, Alström Syndrome is one of the rarest diseases in the world, and is classified as an orphan disease. In the state of Texas, there have been only four known children diagnosed with the disease.
The 780th case is an 8-year-old little girl, right here in Lubbock. Her name is Bryce. After receiving the diagnosis of Alstrom Syndrome, Bryce’s family started the nonprofit organization Alström Angels. The charity’s mission is to bring more awareness to Alström Syndrome so children can be diagnosed earlier, raise funds to increase medical research and improve family support for those affected.
Due to the rarity of Alström Syndrome, research and family support programs receive less than $100,000 each year. The majority of these funds come from community support and private donations. “When we got the call from ATO, we were so excited to have this great group of students join us in our mission to help these rare children,” said Lynn Johnston, Alström Angels co-founder and Bryce’s dad.
Members of the ATO fraternity spent several months planning the fundraiser, which they named Buckets for Bryce in honor of Alström Angel Bryce Johnston. The event will host a 3 vs 3 basketball tournament for men, 5 vs 5 volleyball tournament for women, prizes, food and music. Attendees interested in playing in the basketball or volleyball tournaments can register a team for $30 in advance at alstromangels.org, the Alpha Tau Omega Texas Tech Facebook page, or on-site the day of the event.
Buckets for Bryce will be held on Sunday, April 23, 2017 at Urbanovsky Park on the Texas Tech campus from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. and is open to the public. There is no admission charge to watch the tournament or participate in the related activities.
(News release from Alström Angels)
