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Bill Ross on Pitching in
“Pitching In,” one of the many paintings by Bill Ross, is featured to the left and is the literal image of a boy pitching in at a baseball game with cars around the game pitching in with their headlights. As Mr. Ross likes to say, “Pitching In” is a double entendre. Mr. Ross recounts, “When I was a kid in the Bronx we used to play baseball morning noon and night. It was rural then and there were a lot of empty lots. We loved it so much we played even after it was dark. Sometimes it was even dangerously dark so our older brothers and our fathers would drive in and shine the car headlights or shine a flashlight so we could see. Everyone would pitch in so we could continue the game. So here we are, ALS people, heading into nighttime. But if everyone pitches in, then things can be made much easier. And that’s the point I tried to get across in this painting.” Mr. Ross did not paint this picture with the intention of conveying this symbolism, but it became obvious to him after he completed his piece. A very spiritual man by nature, Mr. Ross realizes very well the importance and beauty of helping out his neighbor and relying upon others for support. Bill Ross remembers the first time he made an appointment to see Dr. Mitsumoto and the ALS team at the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center. The Center is located on the ninth floor of the Neurological Institute of New York and at that time, Mr. Ross had a bad phobia of elevators. It was Ms. Del Bene’s response to Bill that began his friendship with the ALS Center. Bill recounts; “Maura Del Bene said we’ll send 2 guys down to carry you up 9 flights — in the end she told me there was a room free on the first floor. It was like a surprise party because the doctors were there, the OT, the PT, MS. Del Bene, the business staff and insurance. It was like a welcoming committee. One of the worst days of my life I got my third and final diagnosis of ALS, and it was like a welcoming committee. For all I know the janitor was there too. It was just a wonderful experience.”
The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center is most grateful to Bill Ross for all he has done to promote our ALS programs. Most recently, he has given the Center the rights to use one of his paintings as the centerpiece in our latest brochure. That painting dubbed, “A Certain Smile,” is the one that hangs in our ALS waiting room and reminds everyone of the man with the certain smile, Lou Gehrig, whose name is most closely related to ALS. Columbia’s new brochure, focusing on the ALS Clinical Program, carries the name “The Fine Art of Caring for People with ALS,” and I believe that this phrase speaks volumes to what the Center does for its patients and what our patients have done to further the Center’s commitment to ALS research and patient care. It is the combination of these 2 critical activities that effect the greatest change potential in the lives of persons with ALS and their families. To learn more about Columbia’s research and clinical care activities visit our web site at www.ColumbiaALS.org. On behalf of the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center at Columbia University, I would like to thank everyone who has “pitched in” and continues to “pitch in” with their contributions. On the following page are all the names of individuals, corporations and foundations who have so generously donated to the ALS Center this quarter. Thank you! - Lori Funicello
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Painter, teacher, ALS patient
and advocate, Bill Ross of Bronxville, NY portrays a wonderful analogy
about what it means to “pitch in.” When Mr. Ross was unable
to use his hands for painting, he turned to Dr. Mitsumoto for advice.
Dr. Mitsumoto suggested that he use a special paintbrush, which could
be held in his mouth. Needless to say, Mr. Ross was delighted to be able
to carry on with his passion for painting and has been giving back to
the ALS community ever since. 
On
why Bill Ross doesn’t sell his paintings, he says, “Why
should I? All I’d get is money. There’s a higher power out
there. Who needs money when there are Center’s like the Eleanor
and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center and the Muscular Dystrophy Association
who can benefit from my paintings?” Mr. Ross has donated paintings
to the MDA to auction off at their yearly Gala, Wings Over Wall Street.
In fact, one of his paintings was sold at auction for $10K at last year’s
Gala. At a special art exhibit sponsored by the MDA and hosted by Columbia
University over two years ago, Mr. Ross donated one of his prize paintings
to the ALS Center at Columbia University Medical Center in honor of Ms.
Del Bene in appreciation for all of her hard work and compassion. 
