Team Human Powered Potential captured the hearts and imagination of the PD community by rowing across the Pacific Ocean in an open boat — all in support of research .
Rowing for a Cure — and Inspiring a Community
Last summer , a four-man team — close friends , one of them living with Parkinson ’ s — known as Team Human Powered Potential , or HPP , achieved an extraordinary feat : they rowed across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii in an open rowboat as part of the global World ’ s Toughest Row competition . Brendan Cusick , Peter Durso , Scott Forman and Patrick Morrissey were inspired to undertake the 41-day , 2,800-mile journey to raise awareness and funds for PD research and to support and honor Patrick ’ s journey with PD .
Their mission , which had an original fundraising goal of $ 28 million and was supported by an unprecedented 3:1 anonymous donor match , captured the imagination of the PD community and inspired a wave of action . The remarkable journey led to the first-ever Summer Challenge to raise funds for research , driven by members of the PD community . The exercise challenge encouraged participants to set their own endurance goal and raise funds .
The community ’ s fundraising efforts for the Summer Challenge were historic . The original fundraising goal of $ 28 million was surpassed , prompting an expansion of the 3:1 match and increasing the goal to $ 41 million — $ 1 million for each day Team HPP spent at sea .
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