Team Kendall participated in our very first Ride Ataxia on March 29, 2014. All I can say is WOW! What an amazing day.
I wanted to get involved in Ride Ataxia because I have always been a very active individual and this was an event that I could participate in alongside my friends, family and fellow FA community. I was beyond blessed to have an incredible network of friends and family who kept asking “what can I do to help?” The ride was a great answer! I told everyone I knew about Ride Ataxia and I was determined to have Team Kendall make a big splash right out of the gates.
My team and I focused on sharing information about FA. Once we educated our friends and family about the disease and all of the amazing progress that is happening to cure FA; donations began pouring in. We were all so excited to watch that ticker go up and up knowing that Team Kendall is making a difference!
I was also blessed to have an incredibly generous anonymous donor. He has agreed to match ALL Team Kendall donations up to $35,000! We were able to raise around $19,000 for the ride, so this donor matched our efforts to carry us above and beyond our goal! Team Kendall ended up with a grand total of $38,360!! Next year, we are determined to raise the remaining $16,000 to obtain the other part of the match!
We were inspired by the efforts of the other teams contributing to the Dallas ride as well. We were thrilled watching Emily’s Exercyclists and The A-Team’s totals continue to rise knowing that it was all going to the grand total (over $155,000!) Way to go Dallas!
The actual ride exceeded all of my expectations. It was such a wonderful, positive, beautiful, supportive environment – I was absolutely blown away. The atmosphere of hope was so alive, it was exhilarating to be around!
I did the 6-mile ride with the majority of my team, while we had a few Team Kendall folks represented on the 25- and 50-mile courses. It was so fun to ride side-by-side with my family and friends. I wouldn’t trade that day for the world!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the wonderful partnership of Outback Steakhouse. Wow! I was so inspired by their attitudes of love and support. What a blessing to have a partner like Outback! The volunteers that came to the ride that day were so kind and encouraging. They all had huge smiles on their faces and seemed truly happy to be there. How rare is that? Absolutely amazing.
The tentative date for next year’s ride is April 11th in Denton! Pencil in your calendars and join Team Kendall as we Ride to Cure FA! Thank you for your continued support!
To see more photos from the ride, check out our Facebook album here!
