Ride For Life Founder Returns to Miller Place to Teach Students ALS Awareness

ALS patients Chris Pendergast, founder of the nationally recognized campaign “Ride for Life” and Dr. Frank Verdone, a Miller Place optometrist diagnosed with ALS in 2014, lead a discussion on what ALS is and how students can help through a multimedia presentation. They were participating in a Miller Place School District initiative to help students connect with the community and raise awareness about this degenerative disease.

As part of a Miller Place School District initiative to help students connect with the community and raise awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

During the event, each student at Miller Place High School welcomed back Chris Pendergast, a local resident who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and founded the nationally recognized Ride for Life to teach ALS awareness. Mr. Pendergast and Dr. Frank Verdone, a Miller Place optometrist diagnosed with ALS in 2014, lead a discussion on the disease—what it is and how students can help—through patient stories, a multimedia presentation and the story of Lou Gehrig.

Ride for Life is an annual public awareness and fundraising campaign. Each May, ALS patients ride their electric wheelchairs across Long Island, escorted by local schools and community groups. The Ride first began in 1998 with Chris Pendergast, who aimed to create a unique way to focus on ALS and provide a way for patients, families and friends to fight the disease. The Ride has raised over $4 million for research, patient services and awareness programs. This year is the 20th anniversary of Mr. Pendergast’s first wheelchair ride.