on 5/27/2023 by George Ackerman, Ph.D, J.D.
Please tell me a little about your background and what got you involved with awareness.
As a little kid growing up in the Bronx, I remember my Grandfather Jack had a condition that made his handshake. Although we knew he had Parkinson’s Disease, not much was said.
I will keep it short and sweet. I decided to do some pushups a day and it took off and did more and more daily. So, I started doing pushups day after day because I needed to channel my stress with the condition. I watched my mom help my dad as a caregiver and she pushed through. My dad kept pushing through and doing his best despite the disease.
I watched the progression, so I continued to do 100 pushups a day. We realized that if I continued this push-up movement every day until that same age of 74, I would reach 1,000,000 push-ups, which is when the real epiphany happened! “If I can do one million push-ups, and I will, then we should be able to get the rest of the world to do 100 million! And while we’re at it, let’s raise 100 million dollars. A global Pushups 4 Parkinson’s challenge! Why not? To keep it simple for people to participate, let’s just ask people to do 10 pushups, donate $10, and tell 10 friends!”
Can you tell me more about your organization?
It started because I was inspired and needed a way to focus and help my family and I wanted to inspire them back. I was doing them and posting them to social media, and it counted on. I thought I could get a million pushups at age 74. My dad died of Parkinson’s at age 74. We thought we would get others moving, get against something like a stove and do pushups. No matter your age you can do pushups. Then people all around the world do pushups.
On 10/10/10 the Cutler Foundation 501(C)3 non-profit was established, and the official push-up challenge was born. The Cutler Foundation was founded by the family of Keith Cutler during their courageous 14-year journey with Parkinson’s. In their honor, the 10.10.10 challenge was created to help raise funds for local, national and worldwide organizations who have partnered with us to focus on:
- Research for a cure
- Providing support for those living with Parkinson’s Disease today
- Providing caregiver support
- Providing tools and resources to caregivers to improve quality of life
- Provide education to family and professional care providers
Our Goal
Challenge the world to do 100 million pushups and raise $100 million dollars while improving health and having some fun.
Our Mission
Challenging the world to come together to push-up for a cure while enriching and enhancing the lives of people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers.
Where did the name PushUps 4 Parkinson’s come from?
I came up with the simple idea of challenging myself to do 100 push-ups every single day for the rest of my life, with the goal being one million. As I posted progress on social media daily, many friends and family members noticed and supported the effort. I started noticing how the physical and mental commitment of daily push-ups was helping me cope with the stress, get stronger, and channel this into something positive while making my dad and mom very happy.
Exactly two years later, on June 23, 2017, Keith’s Parkinson’s journey ended at the young age of 74. After living and learning through their journey, I knew with certainty that great work could be, and needed to be done to help others.
What is your passion and how did you get involved in Parkinson’s awareness and hope for a cure?
We thought this would be a catchy way to spread awareness while challenging, engaging, and inspiring people to improve their health and have some fun, and anyone could participate in some manner! After consulting with my extensive network of smart friends, colleagues, and supporters, they all wholeheartedly agreed.
When we started to realize that we could challenge other people to have fun, improve their health. We also thought about caregivers. You either were, will be or you are a caregiver. You will have to deal with things, so we used the word push up and then the physical pushup and move together. Everyone in the world could get involved because we challenge everyone around the world to do 10 pushups and donate 10$. I do this for good health and awareness. Whatever it takes to push people to exercise, keep moving and keep pushing.
What type of goals do individuals with Parkinson’s have when working with you?
Everyone has their own goal. We want to keep this easy, and we want to help defeat the disease and a lot of it comes around exercise. My personal goals are important but having everyone do pushups around the world is a goal.
What effect can it have on an individual with Parkinson’s?
I think everyone knows that exercise is medicine. Yes, pushups can improve your situation. It is scientifically proven. We also speak at groups and individuals have told us doing the pushups helped reduce their lives.
You can do pushups anywhere and anytime. We have people in wheelchairs waiving their arms up and now the exercise comes.
What would you like to see as a future goal for your programs?
As we push forward with our challenge, we stand beside you in your personal challenge. Working with partners across the globe, our mission is to provide funding for research and the cure, resources to educate and enrich the lives of caregivers and people living with Parkinson’s.
We all want to find a cure for Parkinson’s. We want to move the world. It is not that difficult. There will be a cure one day and that will be great!
What events do you participate in?
We do go to support groups, and we are in the process of rebranding our goals. We want 10/10 to be world pushup day. If in 1 day a million people donate $10.00 on Oct 10 then the amount of donations that would go to Parkinson’s is important to awareness.
How does this also assist the caregivers?
The caregivers also need strength and hope. This is a way to give strength and hope. They can go on their social media and post their photo and their families love it. I watched my mom taking care of my dad during the process. Caregivers need something strong and hopeful.
How can someone get in touch?
My1010.org or Pushups4parkinsons.org