Rowers complete record-breaking 2,800-mile open ocean row to benefit Michael J. Fox Foundation, increase fundraising goal to $41 million
"Team Human Powered Potential" blows through original $28 million fundraising goal
With the original milestone completed, and thanks to the continued generosity of an anonymous donor, an increased $41M goal has been set in honour of the team's 41 days at sea.
All contributions received will continue to be matched three-to-one.
After 41 days of open ocean rowing and traversing 2,800 miles from Monterey Bay, California, to Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii, four endurance athletes dubbed "Team Human Powered Potential" (Team HPP) successfully completed their arduous and inspirational journey on Friday, July 26.
Witnessing this epic feat, thousands of members of the Parkinson's community responded with messages of support and with donations that have now exceeded the team's original ambitious fundraising goal of $28 million.
The community's impact was quadrupled by an unprecedented three-to-one match from an anonymous benefactor. In response, the match has been generously extended to help the team reach a new fundraising goal of $41 million in honour of their 41 days at sea.
Team HPP was one of nine teams participating in The World's Toughest Row. Patrick Morrissey, 53, of Durango, Colorado, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) in 2019, alongside his friends and fellow rowers Brendan Cusick, Peter Durso and Scott Forman, made history in three epic ways: Setting a race record by raising more than any other World's Toughest Row individual team since its inception with $10,000 for each mile rowed, becoming the first four-man American team to complete the Pacific crossing and Morrissey also becomes the first person with PD to row across the Pacific.
A Summer of Community and Epic Challenges Inspires Team HPP's Final Chapter
Team HPP's motto is "Inspired to Endure," and the team never backs down from an ambitious challenge. With the original $28-million fundraising goal now exceeded, the Foundation invites the worldwide Parkinson's community to express its support of Team HPP and help achieve the increased $41 million goal. With the three-to-one match generously extended, every $1 raised equals $4, every $25 equals $100, every $100 equals $400, and so on. All funds raised go to the Foundation's mission to drive critical research toward better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease.
"Just as the ocean brings unexpected challenges like sudden storms or rogue waves, Parkinson's adds unpredictable stresses in different environments," says Morrissey. "As a team, we were able to manage despite the obstacles we faced on the water. I hope to inspire at least one person to be able to endure and then they inspire another person, and it continues," says Morrissey. "This team, the Parkinson's community, my family and friends inspired me to endure. We're all one big team."
About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF)
As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding $2 billion in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; creates a robust open- access data set and biosample library to speed scientific breakthroughs and treatment with its landmark clinical study, PPMI; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world.
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