New York, Aug. 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wall Street Rides FAR (WSRF), the annual charity cycling/walk event benefiting the Autism Science Foundation (ASF), today announced that it will ring the NYSE Opening Bell® on August 19, 2019. The event, which was co-founded five years ago by Bryan and Melissa Harkins, has raised over $1 million to date for ASF, each year attracting some of the biggest names in the trading industry to participate.
“On behalf of ASF and everyone involved in the ride, let me say that we are honored to be able to celebrate the fifth anniversary of this event in such an iconic way,” said Ms. Harkins. “We are grateful to NYSE for this opportunity and hope to use this increased exposure to be able to raise even more awareness, participation at the ride and funding for ASF and its important mission.”
Mr. Harkins added: “Ringing the opening bell represents another enormous milestone for the Wall Street Rides FAR community. It also speaks to the tremendous generosity of our industry and the spirit of what this event has become – the entire industry putting competition aside for one morning and supporting an organization that makes a difference for so many.”
The following WSRF sponsors, supporters and executives will be participating in the Opening Bell ceremony:
| Michael Blaugrund | NYSE |
| John Cogman | Tower Research Capital |
| Mark Dowd | Forefront Communications |
| Matt Giedt | Chicago Trading Company (CTC) |
| Melissa Harkins | Wall Street Rides FAR |
| Patty Koetzner | Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co, L.P. |
| Thomas McArdle | IMC |
| Jamil Nazarali | Citadel Securities |
| Adam Nunes | Hudson River Trading |
| Paul O’Donnell | Morgan Stanley |
| Dilip Patel | GTS |
| Kim Russell | State Street |
| Alison Singer | Autism Science Foundation |
| Kim Unger | STANY |
| Brad Vopni | Hudson River Trading |
This year’s Wall Street Rides FAR will be held on October 5, 2019, once again at Saxon Woods Park in White Plains. The ride offers courses for participants of all abilities – family rides of 4 and 12 miles, longer rides of 20, 30 or 62 miles, and a 5K trail walk. The ride has grown both in terms of participation and funds raised in each of its four years, last year raising more than $350,000. It attracts many of the industry’s most prominent trading firms as participants, with companies including Cboe, GTS, Tower Research, Chicago Trading Company, Citadel, IEX, IMC, NYSE and XTX Markets sponsoring (see the full list of sponsors here). Firms interested in joining the roster of sponsors can find more information on Wall Street Rides FAR’s website, while individual riders interested in signing up may do so at www.wallstreetridesfar.org/register/.
All proceeds from WSRF go to The Autism Science Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that supports autism research by providing funding and other assistance to scientists and organizations conducting, facilitating, publicizing and disseminating autism research. The organization also provides information about autism to the general public and serves to increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders – which today impacts 1 in 59 children – and the needs of individuals and families affected by them.
The Opening Bell will ring at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time and can be viewed live on the NYSE's website at https://www.nyse.com/bell. Photos and video of the bell ringing will be available via Facebook and Twitter @NYSE.