2021 Virtual Hike x Brunch Event: Complete

Thank you to all the participants of the 2021 MOFF Hike x Brunch! This year, we had hikers tuning in on their Facebook and Instagram accounts from San Luis Obispo (SLO), Danville, Marin, San Francisco, the OC, Lafayette, Cayucos, Morgan Hill, Irvine Hills, Santa Monica, Atascadero, Washington, and New York City. The winners of the instagram giveaway were: Caroline Chalmers and Rachel Dettmer! They won MOFF swag and a gift bag from Bronze Sun Spa in SLO.

We are incredibly grateful to the silent auction item donors and silent auction participants. The virtual silent auction took place on the MOFF Hike x Brunch event site and was a great success!

It was wonderful to see all the hikers who stopped by our MOFF table at the Patricia Street entrance of Felsman Loop in SLO. We had roses in place for hikers to take up to Martha’s memorial bench on the loop.

The Splash Cafe brunch boxes were a hit! Thank you to all the hikers who preordered brunch boxes and picked them up after their hike. $4 from each brunch box purchase went to MOFF.

Thank you to Cafe Andreini for giving away free coffee to raise awareness of ALS in our Central Coast community!

This event happens annually to raise awareness of ALS in our community and to raise money to fund ALS patient care and research. Martha was an avid hiker- we encourage everyone to go on an adventure and hike for all those with ALS who cannot hike anymore.

Natalie Fernandez
Program Director, CFO
Natalie is the associate project manager of clinical development at Viracta Therapeutics in San Diego, CA. In her spare time, she works as the program director and CFO of MOFF. Well connected within the ALS community, Natalie runs the ALS Research Paper Review Initiative (ALS RPR) and is a member of the ALS Association National Chapter Patient and Caregiver Advisory Committee (PCAC). Natalie completed her MBA degree in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Business at The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in June 2019. She holds an undergraduate degree from NYU in Communicative Sciences and Disorders and Spanish.

Andrea Fernandez
Director, Secretary
Andrea is currently working for Plaid in San Francisco, California. She earned her B.S. at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. Andrea chose to live abroad and teach in Spain for a year prior to moving to San Francisco. She is currently enjoying the NorCal city lifestyle and looking forward to all that is to come.

John Ronca
Board Member
John joined the MOFF board of directors in April 2020. Bio coming soon.

Cheri Humphrey
Board Member
Cheri Humphrey joined the MOFF board of directors in August of 2019. Cheri grew up in Dixon, CA and moved to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly. It was there that she met her husband Jim. They now reside in SLO and have a daughter, Victoria and a son, Riley. Cheri is instrumental in the operations of the iconic Madonna Inn, which she has been the manager of since 1989. Cheri and her family have been ALS advocates since the inception of MOFF. We are honored to have Cheri as part of the board to guide community outreach and continue raising awareness of ALS prevalence on the Central Coast.

Ian Parkinson
Board Member
We are very excited to welcome San Luis Obispo County Sheriff, Ian Parkinson, into his second two-year term as a member of the Martha Olson-Fernandez Foundation Board. Ian has served as Sheriff since 2011 and is well known in the community for this tireless efforts to improve the law enforcement processes of SLO County. Ian knew Martha Olson-Fernandez and has been a supporter of MOFF since 2012. We are very grateful for his commitment to help us carry out our mission to fight ALS through patient care and research. We look forward to utilizing his strategic insights and community outreach to further the MOFF mission.

Larry Fernandez
Director, CEO
Larry is currently an executive for a private vegetable seed company. He has been an entrepreneur in the seed industry for 35 years. He is the proud father of Andrea and Natalie and enjoys watching them pursue their education and practical learning through their job experiences. When time allows, Larry enjoys hunting and fishing. His desire is to find a cure for ALS.