Tom and Gayle Benson, owners of the New Orleans Saints, recently donated a sum of $5 million to the Gleason Initiative Foundation to cover operating expenses for its House for Innovative Living.
The Foundation is part of Team Gleason, an empowering organization started by Steve Gleason, a former Saints player who is living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), to help provide individuals with muscular diseases or injuries with leading edge technology, equipment and services and to raise public awareness toward the disease.
“With the creation of the Team Gleason House, we announced to the world that, with the right care and the right technology, ALS patients can be productive and purposeful for decades,” said Gleason.
The House for Innovative Living is a residence in New Orleans’ St. Margaret Hospital outfitted with computer-operated technology designed to give up to 18 people fighting ALS, the disease that Steve Gleason has, as much independence as possible.
“Through this generous gift, we are assured of the sustainability of that mission,” Gleason continued.
It is reported to be only the second building of its kind in the world.
“We wanted to be part of growing this community of productive individuals committed to living as independently as possible,” said Tom Benson.
An additional $4,000 was raised for the Gleason Initiative Foundation because of the partnered fundraiser hosted by Team Gleason and Health 2.0 New Orleans on April 24th.