Reds and Zac Brown Band team up, raising $200K for ALS
It was a game that was supposed to honor legendary baseball player Lou Gehrig and raise money for the disease that took his life. It ended up being the kind of teamwork that would have made the Iron Horse proud.
Friday night on Lou Gehrig Day, the Cincinnati Reds set a record at Great American Ball Park for regular-season attendance. More than 44,000 people packed the stands for the game against the Milwaukee Brewers and the post-game benefit concert with Zac Brown Band to raise money for ALS.
The one-two punch ended up raising $200,000 for Zac Brown Band member John Driskell Hopkins' foundation, Hop On A Cure.
WLWT News 5 anchor Sheree Paolello sat down with Hopkins, who is in the middle of his own ALS fight.
"I don't feel like the face of anything, but I'm doing what I can to bring awareness," Hopkins said.
A year and a half ago, three letters changed Hopkins' life: ALS.
Every day he fights to keep playing, to keep singing, to keep moving.
"I can feel my speech slowing and my range because I'm a little compromised. All the changes are very slow, and I have to be careful with my footing, or I'll trip and fall," Hopkins said.
His best friend and wife of 15 years, Jennifer, sees the gradual changes.
“There are moments when it'll remind us like, 'Oh, that's right, you know, that's going on.' At night it's like fireworks. He twitches a lot."
But Jennifer is focused on the fight, not the unknown of what's ahead.
"Honestly, he amazes me because he gets up every day. He works hard. He goes, goes, goes. I don't think he'll ever stop," Jennifer said.
As positive as they are most days, John admits there are days when he feels angry about the hand he's been dealt.
"I feel like I'm gipping her, you know? I feel like I'm not making good on promises. Like you're still here. I'm still a part of the everyday rig, but I feel like she deserves more," Hopkins said.
So instead, the Hopkinses choose to focus on finding a cure with their foundation, Hop On A Cure, and helping people in the middle of the same battle.
"It felt almost like responsibility and not a choice. You know, we have this massive platform and this opportunity to reach millions of people," John Hopkins said.
Never did Hopkins expect the spotlight to shift from John, the musician, to John, the ALS activist. As he met with other ALS patients before Friday's Zac Brown Band concert, John is reminded there are some things even more powerful than a hit song or sold-out concert.
"I feel like I have courage, but I don't know what tomorrow is, and I hope I don't quit," said Hopkins.
When the Hopkinses started Hop On A Cure, their goal was to raise $250,000.
After Friday's Reds game and benefit concert, they surpassed $1,250,000.
In a tweet Monday, the foundation said they were blown away by the response and overwhelming support they received, saying, "ALS is not incurable, it's underfunded. More than $200K raised will go to research we believe will make a difference."