Celebrity athletes raise awareness and funds for Emory University

Mar. 27—Janice Overbeck and former NFL Falcons player Terance Mathis recently hosted a Celebrity Poker Night Fundraiser for Emory ALS.

Attendees joined together to try their luck in the tournament while raising funds through a silent auction and Big Green Egg raffle. Other local celebrities such as Jerome "The Bus" Bettis and Jessie Tuggle, both of the NFL; and Corey Patterson of the MLB, came to support the cause and play in the tournament with local fans and event goers. Through donations, silent auction and raffle tickets sold, the event raised $30,116.30 — which was presented to Dr. Jonathan Glass of the Emory ALS Reach Center.

Since its inception in 2016, the Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team's non-profit, JO Gives Inc., has hosted fundraising events in addition to making donations to the Emory University ALS Research Center annually.

"After losing my father to ALS in 2015, I have been very passionate about research and finding a cure for this horrible disease," Overbeck said. "Additional funding is extremely important to better understand the disease and determine possible risk factors. Though research has advanced over the last several years to help many ALS patients live longer and more productive lives, there is still a lot of work to be done."

For more information, visit http://www.neurology.emory.edu/ALS/research/.