GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College baseball team will continue its annual fundraising campaign "Take ALS Yard" in support of Project ALS and its mission to combat the deadly disease more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The Bullets will feature the event as part of their Centennial Conference doubleheader against Ursinus College this Saturday at noon.
 
Take ALS Yard has been one of the athletic departments top fundraising efforts since its inception six years ago. The team has raised more than $63,000 to support Project ALS and its goals to identify and fund the most promising scientific medical research that will lead to the first effective treatments and cure for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
 
"Our goal for the event is to raise money and awareness for the deadly disease ALS, which has taken the lives of two people very close to the program in Tommy Kirchhoff and Rob Borman," said senior Brendan Wright '19 (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley), who has been coordinating Gettysburg's efforts this season. "Our overall goal is to eventually raise $100,000 for ALS."
 
Take ALS Yard began as a philanthropic effort by the baseball program in connection with Tommy Kirchhoff, who was diagnosed with ALS and was the son of Bill '63 and Jean Kirchhoff '64, for whom the Bullets' home field is named. Not long after the creation of the fundraising campaign, Robert Borman P'05, father of former Gettysburg baseball player Rob Borman '05, was diagnosed with ALS. Kirchhoff and Borman passed away within five months of each other in 2014-15.
 
As part of the campaign, the Bullets have sold one-of-a-kind t-shirts and hats for $15 at each home game and in the College Union Building on campus. The baseball team also partnered with the softball team this past fall to host a home run derby at nearby Bobby Jones Field with students, staff, and faculty donating money to take their own cuts at the disease.
 
Gettysburg will hold a special ceremony between the two games this Saturday. The Kirchhoff family and Vanessa Bornholdt from Project ALS, will join Wright, Head Coach John Campo and the rest of the Bullets for the event.