Pinwheels Shine at SBU in Memory of Lives Lost to ALS

A field of 6,000 pinwheels shone across the South P field on Saturday as the annual Ride for Life made a stop at Stony Brook University.

The pinwheels, representing the number of people who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) each year, were the backdrop to the presentation of a $1 million check to the university support the and fund ALS clinical trials. Ride for Life's donation was included with a matching $500,000 from the Simons Challenge Grant program to bring the total to $1 million.

For six families who lost loved ones to ALS – also called Lou Gehrig's Disease – within the past year, doves were released in their memory. University president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. also presented Christopher Pendergast himself with an honorary Seawolves baseball jersey.