Walking and riding for a cause

On May 7, 170 Lawrence School District students—107 from the high school and 63 from the middle school—walked with Christopher Pendergast, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease to raise money and awareness for the disease.
Pendergast, a retired teacher from Miller Place, founded the federally recognized charity organization Ride for Life, Inc. in 1998. The walk starts at one end of Long Island in Suffolk County, then travels through Nassau and into New York City. Lawrence High students donated more than $4,000, and worked with the school to raise the money. This is the first year that the middle school has participated in the walk.
The students and faculty on the walk with Pendergast stopped by the Number Five School, continued on Central Avenue to Lawrence Middle School, then traveled on Rockaway Turnpike chanting “Strike Out ALS,” while waving to pedestrians or motorists who honked their vehicle horns to show their appreciations of the students efforts. 
Pendergast said that despite his illness and the pain it causes him, he is grateful for having ALS. “If I didn’t have ALS, I would never have had to opportunity to meet the wonderful students here at Lawrence High School,” he said. “They are the reason that my life is worth living.”
Dave Yaker, a Lawrence High teacher who organized the schools involvement, expressed his gratitude to Pendergast and the Ride for Life for coming to Lawrence and allowing us to be part of the walk. “Most would be bitter, angry,” he said. “Not Chris. This is the very reason why it is of the utmost importance to me to bring Chris and the Ride back to Lawrence every year. He is the epitome of strength, and courage and the ultimate role model for all of our students here. He has taught us all lessons that are impossible to teach in the classroom and has only strengthened the core values that we hope to instill in our entire student body.”

Christine Moore, the assistant principal at Lawrence Middle School, thanked Yaker for his coordinating efforts and for including her school on the walk. “We would love to continue this worthwhile and meaningful event and add it to our annual calendar,” she said. “Chris Pendergast is a true inspiration and our new hero. To hear him whisper the words, ‘Thank You,’ as he circled our building, amidst smiles, chants, banners and words of encouragement, we were all so proud of him and his efforts.”
Eighth-grader Allen Fordham read Pendergast an essay he wrote. “Mr. Pendergast started his Ride for Life walks to raise awareness for ALS,” Fordham said. “He will pass away from this awful disease, and that got me thinking of ways that I can help and make a difference. Chris rode in his wheelchair all the way from New York to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness for ALS. Everything starts with one person and an idea. That idea can change lives.”
Yaker said that one student told him, “‘I feel like I just won the Super Bowl and we are marching down the Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan. This is enough of a reason to continue this tradition,” he said.
To donate contact Ride for Life, Inc. call (631) 444-1292 or visit alsrideforlife.org.