Winner: Christopher Pendergast

Christopher PendergastNonprofit founder

Christopher Pendergast of Miller Place recently received the Jacob K. Javits Lifetime Achievement Award from the ALS Association's Greater New York Chapter for exemplifying "a lifetime of advocacy" in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Pendergast, who has battled the disease for the past 18 years, is founder of the Stony Brook-based nonprofit Ride for Life. He was also a "major force" behind the opening of a comprehensive ALS clinic at Stony Brook University Medical Center in 2002, the university said.