Power for Parkinson's

As we prepare to wave goodbye to August and welcome fall with open arms, we are overwhelmed with gratitude at the generosity our community has shown this month. With your help, we have raised over $40,000; well and truly exceeding our goal!! These essential funds will allow us to expand our reach into underserved communities, train new instructors, and improve the quality of our classes. We can't wait to put the amazing contributions our community has made to good use, and we look forward to sharing the results with you all in the coming months. The Power for Parkinson's team is hard at work right now calculating the final results of Ride the Waves, including the winners of our local Ice Cream Social Challenge! We will be going LIVE on YouTube to share the final results with you all this Wednesday, August 28th, at 3 PM CT. Go to https://lnkd.in/grNnaU9s at 3 PM CT tomorrow to hear our final tally!

The UCSF Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation Clinic, led by Philip Starr, MD, PhD, is developing a new twist on DBS. Skateboarder Sean Connolly, who was diagnosed with #YOPD, agreed to participate in a study to test adaptive deep brain stimulation, which responds to a person’s symptoms in real time, allowing him to continue skateboarding with PD. https://lnkd.in/gn4bBCnY

A few weeks ago, Power for Parkinson’s Health Communications Intern Juslyn Dhingra sat down with Power for Parkinson’s Participant Joe Defilippi to discuss his life, his experiences navigating Parkinson's, and his time with our organization. Joe is a very important part of the Power for Parkinson’s community and carries with him an abundance of wisdom. We are so happy to have the chance to share a few highlights from his interview here today! Thank you, Joe, for sharing your time and insights with us. #powerforparkinsons

Yesterday, individuals from across our local community came together to find joy in movement and celebrate the spirit of summer at our 2024 Ride the Waves Celebration. During the celebration, we enjoyed a variety of light-hearted (but in typical Power for Parkinson's fashion–challenging!) games. After a morning spent enjoying exercise and friendly competition, we sat down for a delicious meal generously provided by Eldorado Cafe and HEB. Like everything we do here at Power for Parkinson's, this celebration would not be possible without the talent, dedication, and generosity of so many individuals, organizations, and businesses from Austin and beyond. We are truly grateful to all of our long-time volunteers who made this event a safe, fun, and welcoming environment for all in attendance, as well as the volunteers from Apple who stepped up to the plate to help us out during this event, bringing with them fresh insights and enthusiasm. We are also grateful to our corporate sponsors, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Amneal Pharmaceuticals, as well as our silver treasure sponsors, Dr. Peckham of Central Texas Neurology Consultants and Dr. Morledge of Austin Neurological Clinic, and our sea-worthy bronze sponsors, Kyowa Kirin, Inc.- U.S., Medtronic, and Boston Scientific for funding the Celebration! Additionally, we are grateful to our talented instructors and staff for planning the activities. Last but not least, thank you to all of the amazing participants who came out to the celebration; you are the ones who make this community so special.

With just 10 days to go, we've nearly reached our Ride the Waves fundraising goal! At the beginning of the month, we set out to raise $40,000 to support our free exercise classes for people with Parkinson's, and we've been absolutely stunned by the outpouring of support from our community. It is through the generosity and enthusiasm of individuals from across the Parkinson's community that we have been able to raise $27,700 so far, just $12,300 shy of our goal! With your help, we know we can reach our goal by August 23rd. To join the movement and support Power for Parkinson's, go to https://lnkd.in/gm8caP4r.

Here at Power for Parkinson's, we are strong believers in the power of group exercise. Exercising in groups turns a challenging task into a fun one! A group setting fosters a sense of community and provides additional motivation, encouragement, and support to those exercising. With this in mind, all of our local classes in Central Texas are taught in a group fitness setting. At the same time, we work to foster the same sense of community and support in our online classes by encouraging participants to use the chat function as classes premiere and engage with each other in the comments. Yesterday, we took an extra step toward creating a group fitness setting online by inviting three of our wonderful local participants to help us lead a Brain & Body class with PFP Instructor Polly Caprio on YouTube. Try out the class at the link below, and let us know if you'd like to see more classes like it on our YouTube channel! https://lnkd.in/dZcY7zrK

Have you had the chance to meet our AHHMAZING instructor, Angie Charnes-Cervi, yet? As we approach the end of our first year of classes at our Georgetown location, we thought it was about time to share a bit about the woman who has brought this incredible class to life: PFP instructor Angie Cervi! The passion, warmth, and enthusiasm Angie brings to class each week are an absolute inspiration, and we are so grateful to have Angie as part of our local team of instructors! Angie began her journey with Power for Parkinson's in 2021 as a volunteer at our Round Rock location. It wasn't long before she was hooked on all things PFP! About a year after joining our organization as a volunteer, Angie met lead instructor Lauren Lewis at a PFP event and began training with her. A few months later, Angie was subbing classes and just a few months after that, she launched her own class in Georgetown! Teaching this class quickly became the highlight of Angie's week, and her love for supporting people through exercise has only grown. Go to https://lnkd.in/gHvuhJXi to read Angie's full story! #powerforparkinsons #parkinsons #parkinsonsexercise

Thank you to Allison Signorelli and Katie Couric for bringing light to the unique challenges of being diagnosed with Parkinson's at such a young age. There is such a dire need for more representation of and research about living with young-onset PD, and advocates like Allison Signorelli and Keri Shaw are truly putting in the work to change the face of Parkinson's and foster community among those with YOPD. https://lnkd.in/ggkVYznr

For the next 23 days, donations to PFP will have twice the impact! It’s time to make a SPLASH! Our annual “Ride the Waves” summer fundraiser begins TODAY and runs through August 23. During Ride the Waves, we raise essential funds to help keep our virtual exercise program free and accessible to all. This year, we hope to raise $40,000 to support our instructor training program, host new weekly exercise classes online, and increase our program’s reach in underserved communities and around the world, and there’s never been a better time to show your support. Our wonderful participant, Joe Defilipi, and the Buena Vista Foundation have made a generous pledge to match all funds raised up to $20,000, meaning any contribution you make will have twice the impact. Go to https://lnkd.in/gM_YGzUN to give! We can’t do it without your support!