This is Sarah Smith.  I am dedicating my time as part of my bat "Mitzvah" project to raise money and awareness about Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM), which is a rare  muscle disease that my Grandpa Smitty passed away from eight months ago.  It is similar to ALS that slowly kills the muscles over several years leaving patients unable to move. It's a slow degenerative disease with no effective treatment.

Because there are only 50,000 known cases of this disease in the world, there isn't much widespread knowledge or funding to find a cure.  And, unfortunately, my family and I had to watch my Grandpa endure a painful final two years of his life ultimately leading to his death.  

I'll always remember Grandpa Smitty as a funny man with a big heart and even bigger personality.  He was so talented in may ways and always working with his hands.  He had a love for baking and was a great mason - helping to build buildings all over Long Island and New York City.  Grandpa Smitty was always tinkering with things, trying to make them run better and he was known in our family as the "fix it man."  It's still heartbreaking that this "fix it man" lost all use of his muscles; muscles he relied on for his livlihood.   He will always be in our hearts and memories!

Please support me in my "Cycle For A Cure" bike ride (in Livingston, NJ) in early October to honor my Grandpa Smitty and raise much needed money for research.  I've been training a lot to complete as many miles  as possible and would appreciate either a one-time donation or after the event, a donation per mile that i'm able to complete. 

Thank you for your support!!!