The Ride for Rick will help 3-year-old battle rare illness
September 29, 2006
BY SYDNEY SCHWARTZ
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WOODBURY - Eric Hodska of Monroe developed "The Ride for Rick" in October 2004 after his friend and co-Ironman Rick Moisan was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer.
BY SYDNEY SCHWARTZ
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WOODBURY - Eric Hodska of Monroe developed "The Ride for Rick" in October 2004 after his friend and co-Ironman Rick Moisan was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer.
Proceeds that year went to the Harold Leever Cancer Center in Waterbury, where Moisan, a Woodbury resident, renowned architect, and non-smoker, received treatments before his death in February 2005.
This year the race will benefit another resident, 3-year-old Cooper Rieg, who is battling Sanfilippo Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder for which he recently underwent a stem cell transplant. Since late January, he has been staying with his family in Durham, N.C., near his doctors at Duke University Hospital.
Lisa Moisan, Rick's widow, has never met Cooper. But she believes it is important to give support to community members in need. Rick felt the same way, she said.
The race will also benefit a Connecticut Hospice fellowship that trains nurses in hospice care, plus the Rick Moisan Memorial Scholarship Fund, which last year gave scholarships to five Woodbury students. More than $100,000 has been donated to community charities in the last two years.
"Cooper is a young boy who is from the community of Woodbury who needs our help," Lisa Moisan said. "We thought it was a good opportunity to raise some money to help defray his exorbitant medical expenses."
More than 250 have pre-registered for this year's race, which will be held Saturday morning and feature 5-, 10-, 25-, or 50-mile bike or walking tours through town, and a new 5K road race. Moisan said she expects the same number to show up that day.
The rain date will be Sunday. This family event will also feature children's activities, a raffle and a silent auction at Mitchell Elementary School.
Moisan's goal is to spread the message to children that it's important to give back to the community. She hopes the event grows each year and reaches out to more and more community members.
"It's called the "Ride for Rick," (but) it really has become more than that," she said. "It's a way to honor any person you know who is fighting cancer or who sadly didn't survive cancer. There's not a person among us who hasn't been touched by cancer in some way."
Peter Rieg, Cooper's father, said he watched portions of the "Ride for Rick" last year from fields at Mitchell School, before Cooper was diagnosed, and is touched by the Moisans' generosity. He moved to Woodbury from Oklahoma in July 2003 to take a job as a Navy nuclear product line manager for DRS. Power & Control Technologies in Danbury. Cooper was diagnosed Nov. 29, 2005.
"What people have done for our family ... they are giving us the best chance possible to get through this," he said. "You become a different person when you are touched by other people's generosity. It completely opens up a different side of you that you hardly ever knew existed."
This year the race will benefit another resident, 3-year-old Cooper Rieg, who is battling Sanfilippo Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder for which he recently underwent a stem cell transplant. Since late January, he has been staying with his family in Durham, N.C., near his doctors at Duke University Hospital.
Lisa Moisan, Rick's widow, has never met Cooper. But she believes it is important to give support to community members in need. Rick felt the same way, she said.
The race will also benefit a Connecticut Hospice fellowship that trains nurses in hospice care, plus the Rick Moisan Memorial Scholarship Fund, which last year gave scholarships to five Woodbury students. More than $100,000 has been donated to community charities in the last two years.
"Cooper is a young boy who is from the community of Woodbury who needs our help," Lisa Moisan said. "We thought it was a good opportunity to raise some money to help defray his exorbitant medical expenses."
More than 250 have pre-registered for this year's race, which will be held Saturday morning and feature 5-, 10-, 25-, or 50-mile bike or walking tours through town, and a new 5K road race. Moisan said she expects the same number to show up that day.
The rain date will be Sunday. This family event will also feature children's activities, a raffle and a silent auction at Mitchell Elementary School.
Moisan's goal is to spread the message to children that it's important to give back to the community. She hopes the event grows each year and reaches out to more and more community members.
"It's called the "Ride for Rick," (but) it really has become more than that," she said. "It's a way to honor any person you know who is fighting cancer or who sadly didn't survive cancer. There's not a person among us who hasn't been touched by cancer in some way."
Peter Rieg, Cooper's father, said he watched portions of the "Ride for Rick" last year from fields at Mitchell School, before Cooper was diagnosed, and is touched by the Moisans' generosity. He moved to Woodbury from Oklahoma in July 2003 to take a job as a Navy nuclear product line manager for DRS. Power & Control Technologies in Danbury. Cooper was diagnosed Nov. 29, 2005.
"What people have done for our family ... they are giving us the best chance possible to get through this," he said. "You become a different person when you are touched by other people's generosity. It completely opens up a different side of you that you hardly ever knew existed."
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