Rhode Island ALS Chapter Awarded Hayward The Spirit of Lou Gehrig Award

The Rhode Island ALS Chapter (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) awarded Hayward the Spirit of Lou Gehrig Award which recognizes an individual or group who has demonstrated great compassion and an exceptional commitment to raising ALS awareness.  Hayward also purchased a platinum sponsorship for the awards dinner and donated their TigerShark robotic automatic pool cleaner to be auctioned off during the silent auction.

Hayward’s journey with ALS began when one of our key engineers, Doug Sawyer, was diagnosed with ALS many years ago.  During Doug’s progression with ALS, Hayward’s upper and local management made the commitment to help him in any way we could.  This has included providing adaptive equipment and computer software, to leasing him an adaptive mobility vehicle once he needed to rely on a wheel chair.  Due to Hayward’s unwavering commitment, this vital team member continues to be a key contributor to Hayward while his battle with ALS continues.

Doug Sawyer said, “I couldn’t be happier to be part of the Hayward team.  Their generous support has allowed me to continue functioning as a productive member of the engineering team, and has given me the ability to live as normal of a life as possible.  My family and I can’t thank them enough.”

Hayward’s commitment to protecting all of our employees is company-wide, not just in our RI facility.  We’re honored to be awarded the Spirit of Lou Gehrig Award.  It’s a wonderful cause and we’re happy to be a part of building awareness.