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Date: 6/30/2021
SOUTHAMPTON – Luke Enright of Southampton and Liam Reynolds of Westhampton, both 17, are participating in a cycling ride charity event to help raise $50,000 for DopaFit, Inc. in Southampton.
Dopafit Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with Parkinson’s fight back against the disease through non-contact boxing workouts, exercise classes, cognitive therapies, art programs, yoga, drumming, voice exercises and support group meetings.
For this ride, which is titled “P-town for Parkinson’s,” both Enright and Reynolds will ride upwards of 1,000 miles over seven days, crossing through six states along the way. The ride began on June 23 and will officially end on July 3 if all goes well. Along with the ride, both cyclists have a goal of raising $50,000 for DopaFit.
According to Enright, the cyclers will be riding mainly through New England and New York, and their destination will be Provincetown in Cape Cod.
Both riders participated in a similar event last year where they left the Dopafit location at 2 a.m. and spent 17 hours riding to Provincetown. They exceeded their target money and raised $15,000 for DopaFit between the day the rode and the day after they rode.
“The name really stuck with us, ‘P-town for Parkinson’s,’ so we figured let’s do something along there,” said Enright. “The final leg is the same ride as last year.”
Enright text Reynolds last year and told him that they should raise money for DopaFit, especially since the organization meant so much to both rider’s families. For Reynolds, DopaFit assisted his grandfather when his grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in November 2019.
While Enright personally does not have family members affected by the disease, his mom has consistently dedicated work hours to the DopaFit gym and was eventually hired as a full-time trainer. Enright would also come by and help his mom and DopaFit CEO Chad Moir.
“This ride specifically, we’ve been planning since September,” said Enright, who added that the riders built a website to unveil their stories and disperse other information about donating.
Reynolds and Enright met in school while having a couple of classes together. One day Reynolds text Enright and told him that he was getting a road bike and asked if he wanted to ride with him at some point last year.
“We started riding together, and we just agreed to do something big because every summer for the past four years I’ve done some sort of fundraising event,” said Enright. “There was nothing going on because of the pandemic, but I still wanted to do something, and it made sense to bring in Liam at that point.”
According to Enright, there is a lot of preparation that goes into a ride of this magnitude. He has a coach that offers him tips on what meals to eat and what type of workouts he must complete. Oftentimes, he is riding back-to-back days of 150 miles to get ready for the ride.
Moir said the money from this fundraising will be used to help offset the cost for those who cannot afford the organization’s services. “We offer many free groups such as support groups and educational programs,” said Moir. “Our goal is to make sure no one has to fight their Parkinson’s disease alone.”
Moir added that DopaFit would not exist without fundraisers such as these. “Two young boys, Liam and Luke, taking on this challenge to help those living with Parkinson’s disease is amazing,” he said. “It is certainly no easy feat, but I know the connection they have to DopaFit and our members will help them push through the tough times of the ride.”
As of press time, the two boys have raised $3,915 out of $50,000. To donate and see their stories, people can visit their website, https://www.ptownforparkinsons.com.
“To see a place like DopaFit help so many wonderful people that I’ve been able to meet, it’s just amazing to do something like this for them,” said Enright.