Kessler Foundation

Friends and Family,


On March 16th, we are running the Brooklyn Spring Half-Marathon alongside several other friends in the Syosset class of 2011 track and XC to commemorate our best friend, Michael Wolkis.  He was tragically taken from this world in a fatal car accident. Mike had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) on halloween night in 2008 during our sophomore year of high school. Traumatic brain injury  is a complex, acute injury with a broad spectrum of severe symptoms and disabilities. The impact on an individual and their family is often devastating, as it was to Mike and the many close ones who cared about him.  


Each year an estimated 1.5 million Americans sustain a TBI.  Of that 1.5 million, 50,000 people lose their lives. An estimated 80,000 to 90,000 of those affected are stricken with a long term disability, which can be financially devastating.  An estimated 5.3 million men, women, and children are living with a permanent TBI-related disability in the United States today. With this half marathon fundraiser, we hope to raise money for those affected, along with honoring our fallen friend and teammate by placing the donation in his memory.


We felt a run was especially meaningful because he was a teammate of ours on the Syosset high school track and cross country teams.  It is our goal to embrace the sport that brought us all together in the first place, while also raising money and awareness for TBI research for possible cures and support for the millions of Americans and their families affected.


We plan on using the funds raised to support research and treatment options for those affected with TBI, and we feel there is no better cause than the Kessler Foundation.  The Kessler Foundation is one of the largest TBI treatment and research programs in the US. The foundation strives to provide comprehensive rehabilitation for people with physical disabilities and helps them achieve maximum independence.  In 1985, the Kessler Foundation Research Center was created to promote rehabilitation research and community employment programs and to continue Dr. Henry H. Kessler’s legacy through the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, which he founded in 1947.  The Kessler Foundation facility is currently the largest and most comprehensive hospital for medical rehabilitation in New Jersey. Your support would be greatly appreciated by all of us who were lucky enough to know Mike.

Our goal of $2000 is in honor of our 2008 5K goal, 20:00


Thank you


https://www.kesslerfoundation.org/