Why this mother of 4 hopes you’ll ‘Drink one for Dane’ to fight a disease that killed her husband

IDAHO FALLS — Since Wyatt Rees passed away 17 months ago, his wife, Mindy Rees, has continued raising awareness for ALS – the disease that took her husband at the age of 35.

Wyatt battled ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) for over five years when he died. He could not speak, eat, walk, swallow, or move any muscles and was confined to his bed. He left behind four children.

“My husband started showing symptoms of ALS but we went three years with the wrong diagnosis. In 2017, he was officially diagnosed with ALS and he passed away December 30, 2019,” Rees tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Not a lot of people know that a lot of people in Idaho Falls have ALS.”

On Friday, more than 400 Dutch Bros locations nationwide, including those in Idaho Falls, will participate in the 15th annual ‘Drink One for Dane’ fundraiser. The company will donate proceeds from every drink sold to support MDA and families affected by ALS.

“We host this annually company-wide in honor of our co-founder Dane Borseman who passed away in 2009 of ALS,” Idaho Falls Dutch Bros operator Tonya Thomason says.

This year, Dutch Bros is hoping to raise $1.6 million, which would bring the grand total donated to MDA over the last 15 years to $10 million. As a thank you, customers who visit on May 14 can snag a limited edition ‘Drink One for Dane’ sticker.

“When this happens, I will never miss it. ALS takes their voice and that was one of the first symptoms with Wyatt. His voice started to go in 2015 and to go that long and not have a voice – this is a way I can help everybody who loses their voice,” Rees says.

A little over 5,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year, according to the ALS Association Rocky Mountain Chapter. It is estimated that at least 16,000 Americans may be living with ALS at any given time.

Donations are being accepted all day in-store and customers can donate directly to the campaign at www.dutchbros.com. Dutch Bros is open from 5 a.m. – 11 p.m. at the following locations:

2703 EAST SUNNYSIDE ROAD

AMMON, ID, 83406

830 EAST 17TH STREET

IDAHO FALLS, ID, 83404

221 NORTH WOODRUFF AVENUE

IDAHO FALLS, ID, 83401