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November 2024 Volunteers of the Month: Jess Ashby and Samuel Adams Brewing Company

For over 15 years, Samuel Adams Pennsylvania brewery has championed the ALS cause. Their success as a company is due to their staff’s dedication to their community. For Samuel Adams coworkers like Jess Ashby, ALS is personal.

Jess Ashby understands service. As a member of the United States Army, Jess proudly served her nation. When she signed up for the Army, Jess knew to expect the unexpected, but she would have never imagined how she would be impacted by ALS.

In 2002, Jess was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina when her first sergeant was diagnosed with ALS. Jess had spent time with him during deployment, knew his wife and son, and even spent time with him over the holidays. At the time, Jess did not know much about ALS. After some early signs of ALS, the symptoms progressed rapidly within three months, and he passed away about one year after diagnosis.

“The biggest surprise to me was how one of the biggest, toughest men I knew could lose so much so fast,” recalled Jess. “Years went by, and his battle continued to affect all of us. It gave us something else to fight for in his memory.”

When Jess began working at Samuel Adams Pennsylvania brewery, she learned how others had also been directly impacted by ALS. Samuel Adams had become a leader for the Lehigh Valley ALS United Walk with an annual golf outing. As with Jess, this was personal to many of the people that worked with her. Sherry Hahn lost her grandmother to ALS and the brewery lost two coworkers, Bill Barnhart and Steve Flintosh, to the disease.

Jess almost immediately became a member of the coworker golf committee which hosts the annual ALS golf outing. Everyone at Samuel Adams sees the event as a challenge to try to outdo themselves from the previous year. They recruit volunteers and sponsors throughout the community, including partnering with contractors who support their brewery on a daily basis. In 2024, the event was so popular that they had two golf outings in one day with over 225 attendees and 30 volunteers. It was an 18-hour day for the volunteers, but it was worth it to make a difference for ALS care and research.

The golf outing is an important opportunity to create more connections with local vendors and business leaders. Monika, a Samuel Adams vendor from Motion Industries, raised over $3,000 personally because she was passionate about the cause.

“It is hard to put into words what this golf outing means for us,” said Jess. “We are very overwhelmed in the lead up, but when we take a breath and report back on the result, it is so humbling. Now we are already thinking about 2025. I couldn’t be surrounded by a better team of people than who we have here.”

The Samuel Adams golf outing supports the Lehigh Valley ALS United Walk. The first Lehigh Valley ALS United Walk that Jess attended personally was in 2021. She did not know what to expect, but she was happy to join the Samuel Adams tent. The Walk helped Jess see the wider world of ALS. She met and became inspired by teams like Lenny’s Light when she saw the positivity from Lenny Rafalko and she also loved the energy from attendees starting the Walk with Zumba and other activities. Her coworkers brought friends, family members, even grandchildren to share in the hopeful nature of the event.

The last five years have shown Jess how deep the support for the ALS cause is from the Samuel Adams family. People who have been retired from the company for over 10 years come back for the golf outing. Children cheer on the team at the Walk. Local businesses are happy to sign up to sponsor and donate.

The 2024 Samuel Adams Golf Outing raised an amazing $26,586 for ALS United Mid-Atlantic. Jess reviewed the records and found that Samuel Adams has raised over $263,000 for ALS care and research since 2010.

“Volunteering with ALS United Mid-Atlantic is a great way to give back and to say thank you to the Lehigh Valley,” added Jess. “This allows us to support those who support us. I 10/10 recommend being part of an ALS United Walk. You will see just how much good there is in the world.”

Thank you to Jess Ashby and the team at Samuel Adams for being part of that goodness in our world. Your efforts have made a direct impact on people with ALS and their families. ALS United Mid-Atlantic is proud to recognize you as our November 2024 Volunteers of the Month.

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