Thanks for Riding the Waves with Us
Summer has a way of pulling people off their routines. Travel picks up, schedules loosen, and for a lot of Parkinson's programs, summer is when things quiet down.
Not at PFP.
Once again, we leaned into Ride the Waves – a month-long push to keep our community moving, connecting, and showing up for each other all summer long, instead of taking the season off. And our community showed up in a big way. Here's a look back at a July that was as joyful as it was busy.
We Danced
Our annual Texas Two-Step Social gave people with Parkinson’s a honky tonk of their own. Over 100 folks filled up the Sagebrush, in South Austin, for a dance lesson – generously donated by Wyatt at Hill Country Two-Step – and then scuffed the dancefloor together to the sounds of Croy & the Boys. It was magical to see people from different Power for Parkinson’s classes dancing together with confidence and joy.
We competed
This month we learned that many people in our community have a real competitive spirit. At the six separate Ride the Waves celebrations that we held at various class locations, we hosted Balloon Volleyball Championships. These contests had participants teaming up to play seated balloon volleyball with escalating rules as rounds went on – peaking in the final round where participants whacked three balloons at once with pool noodles.
The games were fun and sometimes… cutthroat, but that killer instinct helped work against Parkinson’s symptoms. We saw people using full range-of-motion, quick reaction time, bilateral coordination, and, of course, dual tasking, but most importantly, it was fun.
We Celebrated with Our Virtual Community
After last month’s well-attended Beat Parkinson’s drum exercise party on Zoom, we once again gathered our global community for a Brain Games Party with PFP Lead Instructor Lauren Lewis. July also saw the introduction of a Virtual Vocal Power Hour on our YouTube channel, which brings facial and vocal strength exercises that we practice in Texas to the wider world. We also released two special editions of popular Relax and Reset videos with PFP's Nadine Eram, including a gentle supine stretch designed to be done right in bed – hoping to bring a little more calm, a little more ease in the spirit of summer.
Thank you.
None of this happens without you. We want to thank everyone who donated to our Ride the Waves fundraiser throughout July. This year saw our largest-ever goal – $100,000 – plus a $50k match from participant and supporter Joe Defilippi.
We also saw a record amount of donations from our global audience that exercises with us on YouTube. In total, over 270 individuals donated to our summer drive. Those numbers are inspiring to us because PFP remains a people-powered movement, not one funded by corporate sponsors or federal dollars.
Friday is the final day of our Ride the Waves fundraiser so it’s not too late to get involved. Donations can be made here.
Thanks for riding the waves with us this summer. You kept our community strong when it would have been easy to slow down, and that says everything about who we are.
Here's to carrying that same energy into fall.
