Despite gloomy rain-threatening skies, more than 150 participants showed up for the Fifth Annual Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation (LSLF) Ride For Research. Riders chose to bike in either 21, 14 or 5 mile tours with some people pushing baby strollers and walking the short course. This event raised more than $40,000 in donations. The majority of these funds will be used for research to help find a cause and cure for leukemia and related cancers. Riders were able to enjoy a continental breakfast provided by local stores. The Port Washington Police District vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles escorted the riders along the selected roads. The event was emceed by Detective Tony Guzzello, who gave a safety briefing and made sure all riders had helmets.
Evelyn Strauss and Julie Safran, along with the owner of Port Washington Bikes Ralph Intintoli, thanked riders and said a few words about LSLF. They gratefully acknowledged the following sponsors: Rbest Produce, Apple and Eve, St. Honore, Stop & Shop, Port Farms, 16 Handles, Tropical Smoothies, Port Beer & Soda. They also thanked the following stores for giving some of their proceeds to the foundation for shopping done on May 18-20: Bluetique, Bubba Brown’s Treasures, Christina Cheng, Entree, Impulse, Painting with Flowers, Shoe Vault, Suite 275, White + One home, and wit & whim. A Trek bike that was donated by Ralph Intintoli valued at $450 was won as a raffle prize by Evan Greco.
A special mention was made for Team Morgan, which raised $6,000. RuRu Liao-Sim, the mother of Morgan, who has leukemia, said, “When our three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, like many families, our world was turned upside down. Everything changes and causes that we’ve never paid much attention became ones very close to our heart. Having grown up in Port and then having Morgan diagnosed with leukemia made participating in the LSLF bike tour a no-brainer. But meeting the Strauss family and other members of the foundation really validated for us that this was a foundation that we will continue to support wholeheartedly. It’s only been a little over two months since diagnosis, but we learned pretty quickly that LSLF and the cancer community have their arms wide open and ready to support us whenever we need them. For that we are grateful.”
The prize for top fundraising team went to Port Jewish Center and Cheryl Littman. First place for an individual went to Ron Harris. For more information, go to www.lslf.org.
