The Amy Foundation Ride & Stride

South Brunswick, NJ -- The Amy Foundation has merged its two signature fundraising events – “The Bike Ride for Amy” and “The Walk for Diane” – into a single opportunity to help fight breast cancer.

The new event – “The Amy Foundation Ride & Stride” – is scheduled for Sunday, June 23 at South Brunswick High School. The objective is the same: raising funds to help uninsured and under-insured women in Central New Jersey receive potentially life-saving breast-cancer screening mammograms.

“We decided to combine the two events into a single morning to give all of our supporters an opportunity to ride, walk, volunteer and inspire one another to celebrate this important cause together,” said Arie Behar, founder and president of The Amy Foundation, created in 2007 in honor of his late wife, Amy, a South Brunswick resident who died of breast cancer at 49.

“The Bike Ride for Amy” was held each spring for the past 11 years. “The Walk for Diane” was held each fall for the past nine years in honor of Diane Goodwin, a close friend of Amy’s and fellow South Brunswick resident, who was 53 when she died of breast cancer in 2009. Both women were inspirations for their courage and strength, and for their desire to help others.

The “Ride” segment of Ride & Stride originates and ends at South Brunswick High School, 750 Ridge Road, Monmouth Junction. It features four separate bicycling routes of 15, 25, 40 and 50 miles. Riders, who must be at least age 16, are encouraged to choose a route based on their proficiency and endurance.

Starting time for each of the routes will be staggered. The 15-mile route is for beginners and starts at 10:15; the 25-mile is a flat route through South Brunswick and Plainsboro, and starts at 10:00; the 40-mile is a hilly route starting at 8:30; and the 50-mile is a challenging and scenic ride through the Sourland Mountain region starting at 7:30.

The “Stride” segment is a flat 5K Walk (3.1 miles) around the perimeter of South Brunswick High School and is suitable for all age levels. It begins at 10:45 and the entire family is encouraged to participate.

The registration fee for the bike ride or the walk is $40. Including the fee, all riders and walkers are encouraged to raise $180 – the cost of a single mammogram – by sharing their participation and fund-raising page with family and friends.

Information regarding registration cost, incentives and prizes, team participation opportunities, fund-raising pages, and making donations is available by accessing The Amy Foundation website – www.amyfoundation.org.

A light breakfast and a BBQ lunch will be will be offered to all participants and volunteers. WMGQ Magic 98.3 FM radio station also will be on site providing music, games and prizes.

The mission of The Amy Foundation is to make early breast-cancer education and detection procedures accessible to uninsured or under-insured women throughout central New Jersey; and to work with medical and healthcare professionals in determining how early breast- cancer detection for under-insured and uninsured patients is best met.

Women served through support from The Amy Foundation are low-income. Although insurance may be available, many uninsured and under-insured patients opt out of purchasing insurance because premiums are unaffordable, or, if they can afford less expensive insurance, they cannot afford co-pays and opt out of medical procedures. Since its inception, The Amy Foundation has raised nearly $700,000 and provided procedures for approximately 3,400 women throughout the central New Jersey area to receive early detection for breast cancer when it is most treatable.

Potentially life-saving services are made possible through The Amy Foundation’s established partnerships with Saint Peter’s University Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (RCINJ), and Penn Medicine at Princeton Health.

(The Amy Feiman Behar Foundation for Cancer Prevention Inc. was established in 2007 and has been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a public charity exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to The Amy Foundation are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.)