8th Annual Sunflower Revolution Bike Ride Postponed until 2012

The James J. and Joan A. Gardner Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute will revamp its annual bicycle ride fundraising event, the Sunflower Revolution, with an eye towards enhancing the 2012 event. “We’ve chosen to forego the 2011 offering in order to make substantial improvements to this charity event,” said Gina Weitzel, Senior Director of Development for the UC Foundation. “The enhancements should allow the event to grow and help even more people in the future.”

The Sunflower Revolution is a celebratory, three-day event whose mission is to raise funds for Parkinson’s research that can benefit patients regionally, nationally, and globally; to promote wellness within the Cincinnati area’s Parkinson’s disease community; and to heighten the public’s awareness of Parkinson’s disease, a progressive and devastating neurological disorder that afflicts 1.5 million Americans and has no known treatment or cure at this time.

A shared project of UC Neuroscience Institute, University Hospital, and the UC Foundation, the Sunflower Revolution involves a series of events including a free educational symposium and expo for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals as well as a fund-raising bike ride and run/walk that attracts cyclists from around the nation. This annual bike ride and festival weekend has been held in historic Milford, OH, by the Gardner Center at the UC Neuroscience Institute with support from UC Health.  

Feedback from previous ride participants will contribute to the enhancements built into the revamped program, due to be announced during the 2012 spring biking season. Fredy J. Revilla, MD, Medical Director for the Gardner Center, noted with enthusiasm, “Sunflower Weekend continues to connect the general public to the needs of the Parkinson’s patient. There is no better way to raise awareness of this debilitating disease than with a fun-filled program that emphasizes the freedom of movement.”