A simple appeal hits home run for Wayland twins on a mission

They read: "1st Annual ALS Walk . . . Why: To help our mom who was diagnosed with ALS. ALS is Lou Gehrig's disease."

Then, beneath the how, when, and where specifics, is this simple request: "Please help us, Spencer and Hannah Miller."

The 12-year-old twins have hit a responsive chord with their plea. In just five weeks, the sixth-graders have organized a team that has raised more than $35,000 in pledges for the Walk to Defeat ALS, which takes place Sunday in Chelsea. The siblings have recruited an additional 175 - and counting - walkers for the fund-raiser, which benefits research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and patient services.

"We hold two to three different walks per year and this is the second largest team we've ever had. Spencer and Hannah have been amazing," said Kristen Esposito, an event specialist for the ALS Association's Massachusetts chapter.

But the Miller twins are not out to win a competition or gain recognition. They simply want to help their mother, Dana, who was only recently diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease, the same illness that afflicts physicist Stephen Hawking and felled its namesake, the famed New York Yankees player known as "the Iron Horse," nearly 70 years ago.

"It doesn't have a cure," said Hannah. "So, Spencer decided that he should do the walk and start a team so that we could raise money to get close to a cure."

The pair launched their campaign with the help of a surprisingly effective fund-raising tool: the bicycle. With a wheeled posse made up of a few friends and their 8-year-old brother, Kyle, they cycled door-to-door seeking donations. At first, they hoped only to raise the $500 minimum suggested by walk organizers.

"I didn't know how I was going to get that much, especially in this economy," said Spencer. "Then we biked around and in one hour of biking through the neighborhood it was already over a thousand dollars."

"Everyone wanted to help and show their love and support," said neighbor Karen Miller, who is not related. "Sadly, we can't do enough. But this is one small thing we can do."

Inspired by the response, the twins named their team the Walking Warriors, made themselves "captains," and drew up a game plan to expand their outreach. First, they spoke to family, friends, and their basketball, soccer, and lacrosse teams. They received an enthusiastic response.

"Then we decided we wanted to make everyone in Wayland aware. So we made a flier and put it in the schools, and gradually, people started signing up and donating," said Hannah.

"I don't think they knew how their friends were going to react," said their father, Bill Miller. "They've been incredibly surprised and overwhelmed by everybody wanting to help them raise awareness and money, and just really be their friend and their companion going through this with them."

The twins went on to hang fliers and posters in local businesses, posted announcements online, and canvassed their lunchroom at Wayland Middle School for e-mail addresses so they could send walk invitations to schoolmates. They dubbed Kyle and 5-year-old sister Marley "lieutenants," and the younger Millers in turn spoke to classmates and requested announcements at their schools. Soon, more than 100 kids and nearly as many adults signed up to walk, and they, too, began seeking donations and more walkers.

"If you start getting people around you and your friends involved and ask them to contact other people, it just starts to grow," said Hannah.

Ripples of support have spread through the community. A group of neighborhood mothers is handling logistics. They help with tasks such as arranging for buses to transport the team to the walk and ordering the Walking Warrior T-shirts that the twins designed and will give to every team member.

The Miller family's synagogue, Temple Shir Tikva, offered its facilities as a gathering place for the team on Sunday. Area businesses have posted the fliers. The Boston Red Sox donated signed memorabilia and game tickets as raffle prizes for team members. Donations were pouring steadily in at more than $1,000 per day.

"Spencer and Hannah are excited and it's catching," said family friend Becky Haase, one of the twins' main helpers. "I can't go to any grocery store, any school, or the post office without being approached by someone asking how they can help."

Bill Miller said the walk is already benefiting his family. Foremost, it has given all four children a chance to take some control of a very difficult situation. "This disease and what has happened to their mother has had a large impact on us," he said. "So here's a way that they can really feel empowered and able to take some action.

"The important message for us, though, is that this has helped us overcome some of the difficulty we've had in talking with them about this," he added. "They have known that their mother has been sick, and they had heard of ALS, but we were struggling with talking to them about it. This has really helped us communicate with them."

Meanwhile, the national ALS Association, which expects to hold more than 150 walks nationwide this year, has great hopes for every dollar they raise. "There have been recent research advancements, including identifying the genes that ALS occurs in," said Richard Lombardo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts chapter. "That combined with the new easing of restrictions on stem cell research makes this a really exciting time."

Also promising is that Massachusetts established the first state ALS registry last year, and a national registry recently won congressional approval. "Once they are up and running, they can be used to identify trends and commonalities between persons with the disease, which is important to finding the cause and a cure," said Lombardo.

For now, for any who wish to raise funds for ALS or other causes, Spencer has this straightforward advice: "Set a goal and once you achieve that, go bigger."

To join or support the Walking Warriors, visit the event's website, www.thealswalk.org. Donations may be made online up to six months after the walk. To check the latest team tally on the website, select "Support a Walker," choose Spencer Miller, and scroll to the bottom right.