
Our mission
We started the Jeffrey F. Birkel Foundation to fundraise for the ALS Association, ALS United, and ALS research. Before his diagnosis, Jeff was an avid distance runner (he's run 10 marathons and one Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim). In 2005, Jeff ran the Boston Marathon and helped raise funds for MPD research, a rare disease with which a dear friend and coworker had been diagnosed. Now Jeff wants to turn his diagnosis into an opportunity to raise funds for ALS, which, like MPD, is rare and under-funded.
Jeff encouraged his two boys, Matt and Mike, to take up running at a young age - and they did! They both ran Boston in 2023, and on Father’s Day of 2024 they decided to run it again with Jeff, with one of them pushing him in a racing pushchair and the other running alongside. However, getting accepted into Boston is no easy task.
Why donate?
In order to get a pushchair (“Duo Team”) entry, the Birkel family needed to go through the Boston Marathon’s charity program and fundraise a certain amount. We’re proud to announce that in December 2024, The ALS Association and the Boston Athletic Association granted entry bibs to all three for the 129th running of the Boston Marathon on April 21st, 2025! We’re also happy to report that in November, the Foundation had achieved its original goal of $20,000 to the ALS Association meeting their fundraising commitment! Many thanks to our generous donors! There’s no reason to stop there, though. We want to continue fundraising as much as we can, all the way up until the marathon finish line!


10 marathons
Updates
Follow us as we work our way to the 2025 Boston Marathon on 4/21/25!4/8/25
The Boston Athletic Association awarded us two finish line tickets for having raised more than $25K by April 1st.
3/31/25
Matt and Mike finished their final long run in the training block. Now let the taper begin!
3/20/25
Today was Online Giving Day for the Bank of America Boston Marathon. The JFB Foundation sent $20,600 from our fundraising into our official Boston Marathon charity account, which was enough to win 2nd place overall and a $6,000 matching donation from Bank of America!
3/16/25
WCCO CBS Minneapolis aired an 8+ minute story on us, and Mike was a live guest on their Sunday Morning news show!
Social Media






Media
- 3/11/25
ALS United: Team ALS 2025 Kickoff - Birkel Family Story
- 9/17/24
Pushing Forward: Jeff Birkel’s Fight and Marathon Mission
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease in the United States, is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and lower motor neurons that normally control voluntary muscle contraction. ALS often presents in its early stages with gradual muscle stiffness, twitches, weakness, and wasting. Motor neuron loss typically continues until the abilities to eat, speak, move, and, lastly, breathe are all lost. While only 15% of people with ALS also fully develop frontotemporal dementia, an estimated 50% face at least some minor difficulties with thinking and behavior.
There is no known cure for ALS. The goal of treatment is to slow the disease progression, and improve symptoms. The disease can affect people of any age, but usually starts around the age of 60. The average survival from onset to death is two to four years, though this can vary, and about 10% of those affected survive longer than ten years.