Thank you Mayor Wasserman and members of the town council for your recognition.

Our organization has completed our third expedition. It was called the LONGITUDE Expedition and it was a 16-month, 44,000-mile drive around the world, through 30 countries to raise funds and awareness for Parkinson’s Disease. Our beneficiary was the Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale—they’re right in our back yard and that’s where some of the most important research into progressive neurological diseases is being done. We did this using a proven drive-a-thon fundraising model by soliciting per/kilometer pledges using a pledge brochure, available at Land Rover dealerships, and also online at www.drivearoundtheworld.com . Thanks to our volunteer-team—who all paid to go on the expedition—and more than sixty sponsors, 100% of the funds we raised went to research. We raised $85,000.

I always tell people that it takes more than a team of eight and four vehicles to do something like this. There are of course the sponsors and there’s all the people we meet along the way who give us directions or help us, or they take us into their homes. And then there are all the people back home who lent support to help get us on the road. And these are, primarily people from Los Gatos. Sometimes I think back about what makes this project special I just love that it was made possible by volunteers from our home town. This organization was founded here in Los Gatos. The idea, “Let’s do a drive-a-thon” came to us right down the street, in our former home, on University Avenue. The president of our local rotary, Ron Lykins, provided us with an office in “the castle”, just across from the fire station. That’s where much of the planning and logistics were worked out. And when we needed more space, the Shaller and Reicht family opened up their family business to us–Minitool, which is also on University Avenue. We prepared the vehicles for the expedition there. I’d also like to thank some local businesses, Pro Signs, Exclusive British European, and we couldn't have done it without Peet's Coffee.

They say that we all should think globally and act locally and while this is certainly true, we actually did just the opposite. We did much of “the thinking” here in town and then we went out into the world to 'act'. The project was a sort of pot-luck and when we called upon folks to bring something, the great people of Los Gatos did just that. So we say thanks to the folks formerly of 437, Matt Sheppard, Chuck Hudson, Doug Pape, Jim Herlihy, Jeff Manley and Jeff Okubo. In fact, it was Jeff Okubo who came up with the name, ‘Drive Around the World’ for our organization.

We’d like to thank our advisors, Jonathan Knowles, and Tom Clare and a special thanks to Steve Wozniak who endorsed our education program, as well as David and Mary Homa for sharing the program here at Los Gatos High School.

The LONGITUDE Expedition was the third expedition conceived in our home town, and we hope to continue working with our community to launch many more adventures and to challenge everyone to use what you know and love to do to make a difference.

Thank you!