When you donate to Team Kendall or sponsor any Team Kendall riders in RideATAXIA, 100% of your donations go straight to the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA).
FARA is a national, public, 501(c)(3), non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to curing Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) through research. FARA grants and activities provide support for basic and translational FA research, pharmaceutical/ biotech drug development, clinical trials, and scientific conferences. FARA also serves as a catalyst, between the public and scientific community, to create worldwide exchanges of information that drive medical advances.
FARA was founded in September 1998 by a group of patient families and three of the world’s leading FA scientists — Drs. Rob Wilson, Bronya Keats, and Massimo Pandolfo. It was staffed and managed as an all volunteer organization until late 2005. FARA's Leadership and numerous patient families and friends have raised critical funds over the years to support FA research.
Thanks to the brilliant and committed efforts of many FA scientists, we now understand the cause of FA and specific mechanisms leading to damage in FA patients. These understandings allow for more targeted approaches to treatment which are currently being developed for clinical trials. That is where donations come in handy!
The good news is that very encouraging progress is being made to find a cure for FA. We already know exactly what causes FA, which is half the battle. Ironically, the pharmaceutical companies are a bit slow to get on board in this search for a cure. With relatively few cases diagnosed worldwide, the business side of finding a cure is not particularly lucrative (with only around 5,000 cases in the US and 15,000 worldwide). That leaves the heavy lifting to support the search for a cure to the FA patients, their families and friends. A cure is out there, we just need the support to find it. That’s why every single penny gets us one step closer to finding a cure.
Please consider supporting me and the thousands of other patients living with FA by donating to Team Kendall. And thank you for sharing my story and helping bring awareness to FA. I know that “together we will cure Friedreich’s Ataxia!”