Drive your car and help support those with Parkinson’s
Now entering its fourth year, the Drive Toward a Cure “75 Days of Summer” national fundraising endeavor began on Father’s Day and lasts through Labor Day weekend. It encourages automotive enthusiasts to do what they enjoy most—get out and drive.
Fueled once again by Hagerty Drivers Club, the 75 Days of Summer program began as a means for individuals to escape from isolation during the pandemic summer of 2020 but has become an annual competition that to date has raised nearly $100,000 for Parkinson’s disease. It also means participants have a chance to win prizes via random weekly drawings.
According to Deb Pollack, automotive executive and founder of Drive Toward a Cure, each year the enthusiasm toward and participation in the event has grown; individual entrants have been joined by clubs and groups. For 2023, an additional, separate competition was created to include university Formula SAE team members.
“Our original success stemmed from reaching out to car clubs nationwide and through social media channels,” said Pollack. “This year, we additionally have aligned with 20 university Formula SAE teams that originally signed on to provide awareness through their race vehicles—and now the students are coming forth to create larger fundraising efforts.”
Sponsors such as Michelin and Shell/Pennzoil have participated since the program’s inception, bolstering Grand Prize offerings, as well as making long-standing contributions to the foundation since Drive Toward a Cure’s initial driving events began in 2017.
This year, additional Grand Prize sponsors for the driving program include Radford Racing School, NCM Motorsports Park, Xtreme Xperience, GrandPrix Originals USA, and Katzkin Leather—with JBL, Triple Zero, Audrain Motorsport, and the Ingram Collection contributing to weekly random prize draws every Friday.
Affecting nearly one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson’s disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the United States. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control. There is no cure for Parkinson’s and 90,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone.
Drive Toward a Cure is a 501(c)(3) non-profit supporting beneficiaries including The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Parkinson’s Foundation, and numerous Centers of Excellence for Parkinson’s. For donations, sponsorship, and information, visit www.drivetowardacure.org.
Join the Drive Toward a Cure and make every mile count in awareness of Parkinson’s Disease—sign up here.
***
Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.
A good cause and a fun time it would seem.
My dear friend, Gayle, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s over 20 years ago. She started a fundraising in Louisville, Kentucky around Derby time and has raised hundreds of thousands over the years. May this effort provide the necessary funds to finally find the cure! Kudos to Hagerty!!
I am a car guy that owns a 1987 Trans Am GTA and 2002 Firehawk that I love to drive. In June of 2018 I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I have all the symptoms ( balance, bad posture, tremors, speech issues). My exercises are 2 days of boxing and 2 days of yoga ( started that in 2005). Can’t walk a straight line but learned how to balance on the 1-1/2” side of a 2X4. I still work ( self employed at 68 years old).
I can’t and will not give in to this disease. I lost some very good friends to PD.
I stopped most of my Parkinson’s disease medications due to severe side effects and I started on herbal treatments from Natural Herbs Centre ( natural herbs centre the treatment has made a very huge difference for me. My symptoms including body weakness and Swallowing difficulties disappeared after few months on the treatment. I am getting active again since starting this treatment.