Burr Intermediate School Students Receive Banner From ALS Ride For Life

Fifth grade students and teachers, along with school Principal Paul Schmelter and assistant principal Donna Forbes.Students and staff at the Burr Intermediate School in Commack were presented with a banner from the ALS Ride for Life, to celebrate the generosity, commitment, and compassion demonstrated by the Burr family.

ALS Ride for Life was founded by Chris Pendergast, a retired teacher who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease in 1993. This annual wheelchair ride covers hundreds of miles to help raise awareness and financial support for the fight against ALS.

Burr has actively supported Ride for Life since 1998, and has raised over $53,000 in support of ALS research.

The banner was presented to the school during a school assembly by Leslie and Clinton Strait. Mr. Strait spoke to the children via a text to speech device and told the children that their school raised $4,000 last year, the highest amount donated by any school in Suffolk County.

His wife Leslie said, “Your school’s tumultuous reception lifts the spirits of the riders every year as we approach the building.”