Community Corner

North Caldwell Man Leads 400-Mile Bike Ride to End Alzheimer's

Touched personally by the disease, Andy Dunberg and his Team New Jersey Riders are determined to make a difference.

Andy Dunberg of North Caldwell knows all too well the cost of Alzheimer's disease, having lost his grandmother, aunt and father to the malady. That's why he says he is taking to the open road July 10 on his bicycle to get to Massachusetts for the 2013 Alzheimer’s Association’s Ride to End Alzheimer's.

Dunberg will serve as captain of a team including six Jersey cyclists that will ride 400 miles from the Garden State to Devens, Mass.

The ride was organized by Dunberg to increase awareness of the effects of Alzheimer’s and to raise money for the association's research grants program.

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The pain of losing his relatives is what motivated Dunberg to begin cycling, he said. In time, his skill level improved dramatically. After becoming an accomplished rider, he learned about what the association calls the largest cycling event to support Alzheimer’s research. 

The annual 100-mile bike ride starts and ends in Devens, and follows a course that winds through rural western Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 

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After participating in the event for multiple years and serving as an event marshall to assist less experienced cyclists, Dunberg decided to take his fundraising to the next level.

“My experience with Alzheimer’s resulted in a personal commitment to help other families affected by the disease and to aid in the effort to find a cure,” said Dunberg, who spends his days working as vice president of Central Engineering in Passaic. “The mission of the Alzheimer’s Association is one I strongly believe in and I wanted to develop a way to boost my fundraising efforts.”

So he recruited 15 friends to help him carry out his mission and developed Team New Jersey Riders team, which includes: Hank Fein from the Fein, Such, Kahn & Shepard law firm; Richard Molesworth, principal engineer for Marotta Controls, Inc.; Michael Wiatak, sales director fpr Equinix; Bill Wojtowicz, president of Premier Contractors and Nick Salvatore of Oakland. 

Producing tech support and training sessions are teams sponsors Dave Adornato and the Montclair Bikery and nine other friends and fellow cycle enthusiasts.

The New Jersey Riders are expected to arrive in Deven July 13, after which they were serve as marshals for the official ride.

In the future, Dunberg said he would like to see Team New Jersey Riders grow to become a major fundraiser, with a goal of helping bring and end to  Alzheimer’s disease, which the association said affects more than 5 million U.S. residents. The team also hopes to meet a fundraising goal of $40,000.

All proceeds will help the Alzheimer’s Association continue to provide services and programs such as support groups,care consultation, research and more to benefit patients, their families and professional caregivers. 

For more information about The Ride to End Alzheimer’s, visit the organization’s website. To donate to Team New Jersey Riders, visit their donation page and click on “Support a Rider.” 

Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story listed an incorrect name for Andy Dunberg's employer that since has been corrected. We regret the error.


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