Jim and Lisa Kingsbury will travel to Washington, D.C., next month to attend an ALS advocacy conference and testify before Congress about the disease that is changing their lives. Their trip will be paid for by the ALS Association, a national support, education and advocacy group with headquarters in California.

The Advocacy Day conference will take place Sunday, May 11, through Tuesday, May 13.

The organization seeks support for federal legislation that would create a national registry of ALS patients; increase funding for research, particularly into the link between military service and the increased risk of developing ALS; and improve access to long-term care for ALS patients.

Lisa Kingsbury also has made a commitment to organize a local ALS fundraising and awareness walk this summer in Bangor. The 5K event will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at Hayford Park on Union Street. Participants may register online now by going to the Web site of the northern New England chapter of the ALS Association, www.alsanne.org, and clicking on “Walk to Defeat ALS.”