This fall, financial and technology firms will once again trade their blazers and slacks for bike shorts and running shoes to take part in the annual Rides FAR (For Autism Research) bicycling and walking fundraiser on September 30, supporting the Autism Science Foundation (ASF).
Now in its ninth year, Rides FAR has announced that it has already raised over $650,000 in pre-event sponsorships from over 60 sponsors in the financial and fintech sectors. Top Rides FAR sponsors for 2023 include Cboe, T. Rowe Price, XTX Markets, Trumid, RBC Capital Markets, Paxos, Hudson River Trading and Hybrid Financial. Co-founded by industry veterans Bryan and Melissa Harkins, Rides FAR has raised over $3.5 million to date for AFX. This year, Rides FAR events will take place in New York, Baltimore and Toronto, and virtual riders can participate from all over the world.
“When my wife and I first founded this event, it was a small grassroots activity with only a few teams and corporate sponsors,” said Bryan Harkins, who is also STA’s 2023 Dictum Meum Pactum Award recipient. “But as the event has expanded year after year, the network effect has continued to propel us to new heights — which is the best way to ensure we have a consistent pipeline to fund critical research efforts.”
All proceeds from Rides FAR go to ASF, a nonprofit organization that supports autism research to discover the causes of autism and develop new treatments. Since its founding in 2009, ASF has funded more than $5 million in grants that have resulted in scientific breakthroughs in autism research. The organization has also recently expanded its international presence with the announcement of the creation of Autism Science Foundation Canada.
“ASF works with almost a dozen different autism researchers in Canada at the University of Alberta, Holland Bloorview Hospital and the University of Toronto,” said Jos Schmitt, President & CEO of Cboe Canada and Chair of the Toronto-based Bay Street Rides FAR event. “One project I am particularly excited about is the NextGen Sibs project. The goal of this project is to build a global collaborative network that will help in identification, evaluation, diagnosis and intervention for children of parents who have a sibling with an autism diagnosis. The probability of these children being diagnosed with autism is high, and being able to identify them early and expedite their entry into intervention would be a remarkable outcome with a life-changing impact.”
To learn more and register for Rides FAR, check out their website.
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