Jake's Ride for Dystonia Research Targets $400K

The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation will hold its 7th Annual Jake’s Ride for Dystonia Research in Short Hills on Sunday, Sept. 28. The community-wide event attracts more than 1,000 bikers/walkers and 100 volunteers annually.

The family-oriented bike tour features live entertainment, a silent auction, raffle prizes, food, and arts and crafts activities for children. Jake’s Ride hopes to raise $400K this year for dystonia research.

As one of the Foundation’s most successful grassroots fundraising events, this ride has raised over $1.7 million in six years, funding 21 research grants for dystonia and three movement disorder fellowships.

Jake’s Ride is named for Jake Silverman, a 17-year old resident of Short Hills, who was diagnosed with early onset childhood dystonia in 2008 and is currently living with this debilitating disorder. Closely related to Parkinson’s disease, dystonia is an incurable neurological movement disorder that causes uncontrollable and painful spasms in one or more parts of the body. Dystonia is the third-most common movement disorder, affecting at least 500,000 in North America, one-third of whom are children.

Jake’s Ride starts and ends at Hartshorn Elementary School, located at 400 Hartshorn Dr. The registration fee is $40 for adults and $20 for children until Friday, Sept. 19. From Sept. 20 through event day, the registration fee is $55 for adults and $30 for children.

The event will kick off at the starting line at 9 a.m. and includes several bike-riding courses, including one-mile, five-mile, 10-mile and 20-mile routes, traveling throughout Millburn/Short Hills, as well as a one-mile walking course. Willie Geist, co-host of NBC’s Today’s Take, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and the Foundation’s spokesperson, is the official emcee of the event. Willie’s father, Bill Geist, a long-serving CBS news correspondent, announced in 2012 that he was living with Parkinson’s disease.

To find out more information about Jake’s Ride for Dystonia Research, visit www.JakesRide.org.