Featured Beneficiary
ALS Ride for Life
ALS Ride For Life was founded in 1998 by Chris Pendergast along with other ALS patients.
It is named “ALS Ride For Life” because of the signature annual event. ALS patients ride their power wheelchairs along the highways across Long Island to Manhattan. The patients are literally riding for life: theirs as well as the lives of the other 30,000 Americans fatally stricken with ALS. Without a medical miracle, they will not survive. By the 21st Ride, eighty former Riders died hoping for a cure.
ALS Ride For Life’s mission is to raise public awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, help researchers find a cure, support ALS patients and their families and provide the ALS community with the latest ALS related news, information and inspiration.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease that kills nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively paralyzed, patients become totally immobile. Most commonly, the disease strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70. The average patient dies within 2-3 years from the time of diagnosis, and 90% are dead within 5 years. As many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time, and 6,000 lives are lost every year. We still do not know its cause, and there is no effective treatment or cure.
Ride For Life is an IRS recognized patient-driven and patient-organized charity. Research grants are determined entirely by patients. Most fundraising is organized directly by patients & their families. It operates largely with the help of volunteers. The office space is donated by Stony Brook University and is staffed with two part-time employees. A part-time Social Worker assists patients through a special grant.
Affects of Gift Given
The Charity was instrumental in starting the specialized ALS Clinic at University Hospital. It funds the Clinic operation each year. In addition, patients are served by several important programs. The Nursing Grant provides $3,000 for caregiving to help keep patients living in their own home. The Legal Aid Grant gives $1500 to assist with legal costs associated with terminal illness. The Morrison Foundation funded a unique program named Morrison Mobility. Under it, wheelchair bound patients are loaned long term use of handicapped vans. Morrison Mobility restores independence to imprisoned patients trapped in their home.
Besides Patient Services, the ALS Ride For Life underwrites extensive research investigations. Recently, ALS Ride has funded $325,000 for research conducted at the world renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Last year $300,000 was given to Stony Brook University to support a study on the genetic cause of ALS. In total, over the years the Ride has funded over 2.5 million dollars to discover the cause and develop a treatment for ALS.
Our efforts to fight the good fight against ALS was greatly enhanced through the generosity of the Morrison Foundation. In 2017, the Foundation updated equipment in the office. Two computers, a laptop and a new high volume color laser printer replaced our aging and inefficient equipment. Brought up to industry standards, the office was enabled to operate quicker and better.
As we move forward with our mission to research and serve patients, we recognize those who brought us to this point. We salute the fallen Riders, patient families, dedicated volunteers and our generous supporters like Richard and Mary Morrison.