Neighbor News
The Iris Fund's First Team of Cyclists Will Compete in Next Week's L'Etape du Tour de France
Team will raise vital funds for local nonprofit, which supports preterm birth research and works to improve pregnancy outcomes.
The Iris Fund's first team of cyclists will compete in next week's L'Etape du Tour de France to raise vital funds for preterm birth research. L'Étape du Tour de France is an event that allows amateur cyclists to ride a stage of the Tour de France, often to raise funds for charities.
Ridgefield-based nonprofit The Iris Fund works to improve pregnancy outcomes by better understanding how every mother’s body works during pregnancy and has raised over $1,300,000 for research since its inception. As the leading private funder of basic science research related to preterm birth, they connect patients, partners and providers to find answers.
The Iris Fund was established in July of 2017 and is named after Iris Crystal Aleman, who was born and died due to complications of preterm birth. The organization's community spans 35 states and eight countries.
The Iris Fund supports the research being conducted by a Mechanical Engineer and OBGYN (Drs. Myers and Vink) at Columbia’s Preterm Birth Prevention Center and University of Hawaii as well as The University of Wisconsin's Ultrasound Imaging Lab. They're determining what triggers full-term labor to eventually prevent preterm birth.
“Since we started The Iris Fund, about eight years ago, we’ve been a Ridgefield-based and supported organization. Our first local fundraiser was at No. 109 Cheese & Wine," says Founder and Ridgefield native Brittney Crystal. "I hadn’t seen fellow Ridgefield native Paul Fitzpatrick in years - but there he was. He had heard about our event and showed up with a message from his wife, Kate, who was also born and raised in Ridgefield. That’s the Fitzpatricks: they show up, and they have for The Iris Fund for years from organizing fundraisers to Kate Fitzpatrick Consulting providing pro bono social media support and now Paul participating in L'Etape Series by Tour de France.
It’s our first ever cycling event and it wouldn’t be possible without supporters like Kate and Paul. Thank you for always reminding us what this great small town is about - community.”
To learn more and support the fundraising team, please visit https://fundraisers.hakuapp.com/teams/the-iris-fund-5?partner=21b2f535e093d88642da
