The Foundation
In 1993, the Pedal-With-Pete Foundation was established (non-profit, 501(c)3 organization) to raise money for research to improve the quality of life for those people with cerebral palsy.
Activities and projects that we participate in include:
- Publish a newsletter The Spokesman, twice yearly
- Mass mailings to various groups that encourage support
- Sponsor displays at community events
(Kent Heritage Days, Ravenna Balloon Event, Bike Expo) - Pedal To Make A Difference Bike&Hike Event the third Saturday of May, Kent Ohio
- Participation in Kent State University Homecoming parades
- Maintaining an 800 # for comments, and questions
- Public speaking to various groups about CP
Watch the Pedal With Pete Video
Pedal With Pete: Riding to Help Fight Cerebral Palsy. Check out this video about the charity bicycling event that reaches out to the CP community and raises funds for Cerebral Palsy research. Includes interviews from voluneers, footage from the ride, information on the PwP Foundation's vision, footage from a cerebral palsy research case study at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and footage from Pete's first ride in 1991.
History
In July of 2003, Pedal-with-Pete celebrated ten years of support for cerebral palsy research. Founded by Pete and friends after his successful ride around Ohio in 1991 to raise dollars for brain research, Pedal-with-Pete was incorporated in 1993 as a 501 (c)3 organization to raise awareness and funding for research to prevent and treat those with cerebral palsy. Some milestones over the last ten years:
- 1993 - Pedal-with-Pete founded in Kent, Ohio
- 1995 - September: First Kent Bike-a-thon held
- 1996 - Spring: The Spokesman, newsletter for Pedal-with-Pete is first published
- 1996 - May: Bike-a-thon held in Rocky River, Ohio
- 1996 - First grant made to cerebral palsy research
- 1997 - PwP gains national recognition through an article published in bond magazine
- 1998 - Kent annual bike-a-thons moved from September to May.
- 1999 - First PwP ride west of the Mississippi, sponsored by the 4-H Youth County Council of Palo Alto, Iowa
- 2001 - Walk-a-thon becomes a part of the Kent bike-a-thons
- 2002 - April: EP Magazine features story of Pedal-with-Pete for the special needs community
- 2002 - August: First Central Ohio Ride, for Pete's Sake!
- 2002 - October: WALK-A-MILE challenge introduced
- 2003 - Pedal-with-Pete made a $50,000 grant to cerebral palsy research
Celebrating Ten Years of Support for Cerebral Palsy Research 1993 - 2003 - 2004 - Pedal-with-Pete made a $50,000 grant to cerebral palsy research again
- 2005 - We added the 60 mile ride
- 2005 - Pedal-with-Pete made a $50,000 grant to cerebral palsy research for the third year.
Meet Pete
GROWING UP
Pete Zeidner was born to an immigrant family in 1958, in Cleveland, Ohio, and was not expected to live, because he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Pete's parents, Otmar and Ilse, were both born in Transylvania, which is now part of Hungary. Otmar studied medicine at the University of Vienna while holding down two jobs in order to support his wife and two children, Christian and Cornelia. After medical school, in May 1952, his family came to America. They learned the English language from a pastor and the Salvation Army and Otmar became fluent enough to take the State Medical Boards. Otmar attained his medical license and soon after, he attained a job at Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. Later, Otmar began his own practice, and was often expected to speak up to four languages in a day, because of Cleveland's strong ethnic communities.
Pete, having CP, was not developing as a normal healthy baby . Sadly, when Pete was four-years-old, his mother died in a car accident. Otmar remarried and Pete gained a new mother who believed in tough love, and she became the most influential person in Pete's life. When Pete was five-years-old, she weaned him off the baby bottle, potty-trained him, and helped him learn to eat by himself. In the first and second grade, Pete learned to type using the eraser-end of a pencil, an ability he still utilizes today.
At the age of eight, Pete's parents took him out of second grade and started him on the Doman-Delacato Method, based on the philosophy that a child needs to be able to creep/crawl before he/she can walk. This is a very rigorous program and for the first three years, Pete was not allowed on his feet. By the end of the sixth grade, Pete was able to walk and function well enough to be integrated into St. Mark Lutheran School in Cleveland.
Pete was the only student with a disability and fortunately, only a few adjustments needed to be made to accommodate him. This was the first time Pete was able to be independent of his parents and to make friends.
HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE
Pete began high school in 1974, at Lutheran High School West. At 16, he felt cheated by his disability as he watched his friends receive their drivers licenses.
After graduating from high school, Pete enrolled at a community college and took classes over the television. The following spring semester, he began taking regular classes at the college, after convincing the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Services to pay for a Bachelors degree at a state school. Pete soon transferred to Kent State University, graduating in 1986, with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, with a major in Marketing. At KSU he was involved with the Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity and with Lutheran Campus Ministries.
After graduation, Pete realized that he had reached another critical point in his life, because he had to learn to accept some limitations attributed to CP. He also had to deal with the ignorance of people who equated his physical disability with mental retardation and talk to him as if he's a toddler. Pete considers himself very fortunate, because he lives on his own in an apartment with occasional assistance from an attendant that preps his meals, does laundry, cleans, and takes him shopping. While Pete appreciates the assistance, he shares the wish of many others with disabilities to be completely independent.
Visit the Meet Pete page to watch video excerpts from the full length Pedal-With-Pete Video.
Meet Dr. Leland Alrbright
Dr. Leland Albright is Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and one of the world's leading researchers of cerebral palsy and movement disorders.
Dr. Albright has devoted much of his career to treating and researching cerebral palsy (CP). He feels that most people don't care enough about CP to become informed and often lack concern for persons with the condition. Overall, Dr. Albright is one of the primary pioneers in CP research.
Dr. Albirght explained that until fifteen years ago, the treatment for CP was limited to oral medication, physical therapy and occasionally, surgery to lengthen tendons. Surgeries of this type had limited success and the results weren't permanent. In 1985, a West Coast surgeon, Dr. Warwick Peacock of San Francisco, introduced rhizotomy, a surgical treatment in which nerve endings are cut to reduce spasticity.
Following this discovery, Dr. Albright adapted the baclofen pump to assist patients with CP. The hockey puck-sized baclofen pump is implanted under the skin of the abdomen to deliver baclofen into the spinal cord in order to reduce spasticity. Two advantages of the pump are (1) that the dosage can be carefully regulated to suit the patient's needs, and (2) that it can be turned off completely when necessary.
Dr. Albright's most cutting edge research has involved deep brain stimulation research, where an insulated wire is placed inside the brain. By quickly firing electric impulses, the device stimulates the brain to block its own tremors, enabling a person to perform a broader range of small motor tasks (i.e. picking up a glass or feeding yourself).
According to Dr. Albright, there is a great need for the continuation of accelerated research and for more patients with CP to receive PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans which can then be examined for chemical deficiencies in the brain. Later, this information can be used to infuse the chemicals with neuro-transmitter replacements.
Dr. Albright desires to improve the quality of life for people with CP and his sensitivity and caring are evident in his careful observations and research.
Board of Directors
PRESIDENT: George W. Gaiser
VICE PRESIDENT: Chris Hudecek
SECRETARY: Edith Hebrank
TREASURER: Todd Blevins
PUBLICITY CHAIR: Fran Hardesty
CAMPAIGN CHAIR: OPEN
RESEARCH & EDUCATION: Emily Schmidlin news
FINANCE: John Hall
AT LARGE MEMBERS: Ruth White, Bill Head
FOUNDER: Pete Zeidner
If you would like to help, the Board meets 7PM the fourth Tuesday of every month in the Tower 43 building, ground floor reception room, 1546 South Water Street, Kent Ohio.