Christopher Pendergast, who has battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for 19 years, is donating $500,000 through proceeds from the Ride for Life organization he founded, to support the development of an ALS Clinical Trials Program at the Stony Brook ALS Center of Excellence named in his honor in 2010. The Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence is the only ALS Association certified center on Long Island. The gift will be matched by the Simons Challenge Grant, providing a total impact of $1 million to help fund clinical research in hopes of finding a cure for ALS, a fatal disease.