Day: February 25, 2023

The 2023 Harvey Memorial Ensemble ALS Awareness Week has opened its doors, and runs through until Sunday, March 5th, inclusive.  Organised by members of Supporto Italiano, the event is dedicated to the memory of ALS victim and Second Life resident Harvey22 Albatros, and focuses on music, fun and raising funds for AISLA, the Associazone Italiana Sclerosi Laterale Amiotrofica for research into, and treatment of, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Sometimes also referred to as motor neurone disease (MND) or by the synonyms Lou Gehrig’s disease and Charcot disease, ALS is a specific disorder that involves the death of neurons that control voluntary muscles. For about 90-95% of all diagnosed cases, the precise cause of the disease is unknown; for the remaining 5-10% of diagnosed cases, it is inherited from the sufferer’s parents. There is no known cure, and symptoms generally first become apparent around the age of 60 (or 50 in inherited cases). The average survival from onset to death is three to four years. In Europe and the United States, the disease affects about 2 people per 100,000 per year.

Whilst visiting, people are encouraged to make donations to AISLA in any one of a number of ways:

• By clicking the donations kiosks in front of the event stage.
• By clicking on the AISLA information boards to go directly to AISLA’s donations web page, where credit / debit cards or a PayPal accounts can be used to make a direct donation.
• By purchasing a Paola Mills tee-shirt design from the vendors on the west side of the arena, between the 2D and 3D art displays.
• By purchasing one of the special Harvey Memorial Rabbit paintings by Terrygold (L$200 each) – these can be found on the west side of the events schedule board.
• By entering the Ensemble Week prize draw to win a MotoDesign Chopper motorcycle  – the draw is a limited entry event (90 numbers), and located on the east side of the events schedule board – thewinning draw will be made in Sunday, February 27th, 2022.
• By participating in the Art Auction.

100% of L$ donations and payments, with all winning bid payments from the Silent Art Auction, will be forwarded to AISLA a the conclusion of the event.

The Art Auction this year features works by the following artists (2D) – Celestial Demon, Dadi88, Kika Yongho, Karma Daxeline  (karma.weymann), LikaCameo, Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau), Maloe Vansant, and Once Again (manoji.yachvili) and Terrygold; (3D) Dreams (barry Richez); Ciottolina Xue, Jipe Loon; Livio Korobase, Moki Yuitza and Moya Patrick (Moya Janus).

The 2D artists have donated multiple works as single auction sets, with the 3D artists donated a mix of individual pieces and small collections. To participate, right-click on the auction boards and then entering the amount you wish to bid. Winning bids will be announced at the end of the event. A raffle with gift cards valued at L$2,500 and L$5,000 is also running across the event.

The Harvey Memorial Ensemble ALS Awareness Week in Second Life is always an engaging and fun festival, with even more added to the mix this year yo make hopping along and participating even more worthwhile – so why not take the time during the week to do so?

SLurl Details

• Harvey Memorial Ensemble 2023 (Yorkdale, rated Adult)