Dowling College Honors "Ride for Life" Founder Chris Pendergast Dowling College: News
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Dowling College Honors "Ride for Life" Founder Chris Pendergast

Miller Place resident Chris Pendergast, founder and president of ALS fundraising organization, Ride for Life, received the Golden Lions Community Service Award at Dowling College's annual Athletic Alumni Reunion Dinner and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on October 8 at West Lake Inn in Patchogue.

Pendergast, diagnosed more than a decade ago with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease), began Ride For Life, an annual public awareness and fund-raising campaign, in 1998. Each May he travels hundreds of miles in an electric wheelchair with scores of supporters and fellow patients.

Ride For Life has become a centerpiece for the region's efforts to support ALS Awareness Month. Since its inception, Ride For Life has raised approximately $750,000 for research and patient services through business and private donations. In addition to dollars, Pendergast's warmth and sincerity promotes awareness, including important media attention.

The Dowling College community was honored to host the kickoff ceremony for Day #5 of the 2004 Ride For Life from Manhattan to Montauk at the Rudolph Campus in Oakdale.

About Dowling College

Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor′s, Master′s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education.