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People of Year in Health turn tables on turmoil Pendergast wheeled ALS into national spotlight; N' port hzgh schoolers advance efior s BY ELIZABETH W. SOBEL A committee of National Honor Society students al Northpon High School is feverishly putting the finishing touches on A Midwinter Night' Dream io be held at Oheka Castle in Huntungton on January 11. 2006 The second annual black tie affair features exceptional food. an auction and a raffle to raise money for the crippling and fatal disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease. Honor society members chose to champion the ALS cause because two of their beloved teachers. Chris Pendergast and David Deutsch, are battling the disease The Northpor-East Northport School District has also meen a higher than normal rate of ALS, with several employees and family members having succumbed to the tlisease over the past decade, according to Pendergast. _ The Times Beacon Record's People of the Year in Health have raised ALS awareness to new heights: Chris Pendergast turned personal turmoil into a public health campaign and the high school's National Honor Society, a group of about 300 students, has played a crucial role in aiding this important effort. \With Deutsch's diagnosis in 2004 at age 35, the stu- dents and faculty wanted to take action and demonstrate their support,\ said Don Strasser, who 1s co-advisor of the high school's National Honor Society. \Within ten months,. their fundraising event became one of the largest ALS fundraisers on Long Island. The inaugural event attracted 385 attendees and rose more than $90,000 for ALS research.\ Other school and community fundraising events, like File photo Chris Pendergast's 1998 wheelchair nde piso\ Photo courtesy of the Deutsch family via Johns The plight of Pendergast and David Deutsch. pictured above with family, inspired Northport High School's chapter of the National Honor Society to lead local fundraising efforts last year to Washington, D.C. launched a cam- Hoops for ALS. garnered $32,000, a check for which stu- . paign to heighten national awareness of dents and faculty delivered in June 2004 when the, accompanied David Deutsch to the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins in Baltmore Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have ALS. a progressive illness that attacks the body's nerve cells that are responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. Patients lose their strength and mobility Muscles in the diaphragm and chest wall usually fail within three to five years and a majority of patients die from respiratory failure. Only about 10 percent of patients with ALS survive for 10 years or more. Pendergast. a former elementary school teacher in Northport-East Northport School District. was diagnosed with ALS in 1993 and has beaten the odds in having sur- vived over a decade. Recognizing that hittle had been done to raise money for research, he came up with the ALS and the need for research funding idea of a wheelchair nde to promote ALS awareness The annual event. which now goes between Manhattan and Montauk each May. is sponsored by Ride for Life, a not for-profit corporation run by ALS patients and caregivers whose mmson is to raise money and to support patients by providing them with the latest news and information about their disease A spiritual man. Pendergast said he believes there was a larger plan tor his having contracted the iliness and he decided to use his time wisely. \I belreve there are rea- sons for everything There are forces beyond the physical domain and higher powers to which you can strive to emulate,\ Pendergast sard \I have a deep- seeded sense ot New Year ~ New You make-up are resolved to | help you look and feel your best in 2006 Our altruiam and 1 enjoy knowing that I have an important opportunity to make a difference in a small part of the world at those who have ALS Robert - Packard - Center - tor - MS- Research Admmisitrative: Director: Kathrin Davis said that the research center has taken the students involvement to a higher level The Packard Center hosts one student cach summer to research ALS at its facility in Baltimore | ast year, a Northport High School senior helped develop a test for ALS Danis sard the program was so successful that the administration is hoping to host another student next year who will participate in more hased Contmucd on pase XLY * Acrohics S 30 ( 3pm e hintrimg C lass 6 361 82 3t * | amaze C 30 9 (0pm * N Frery 3rd Free Gift with $50 Make-Up session * “1g; RAK) Y) 18am * amaze ~ 30 pm * Yoga: 6:00-7:30pm * Knitung: 6:30-8:30pm Every Ist Wednesday * Round Table Brndge 1 4pm hage Historm al Secrets * ‘I/fim Tuesday ~~ ® * |V. 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