Ben Hersch, a 13-year-old diagnosed with diabetes, competes last year in Philadelphia. The Edison boy will be among the runners Oct. 19 in the Atlantic City Marathon to benefit a diabetes research fund set up in his name at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Photos courtesy the Hersch family
Join the team
To sponsor a Team Dream member or contribute to Ben’s Endowment Fund for Diabetes Research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, contact James Gurland, executive director of the NJ region of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science at jgurland@acwis.org. Contributions can be made directly to the fund on-line by clicking on “donate” at www.weizmann-usa.org. For information on becoming a member of Team Dream in future races, contact Jonathan Hersch at 732-494-3439 or jhersch@optonline.net.
October 16, 2008
Ben Hersch has been running against diabetes since he was diagnosed with the disease at age four.
Now the 13-year-old Edison boy will compete with family, friends, supporters, and classmates in the Atlantic City Marathon on Oct. 19 to raise funds for diabetes research in Israel.
The “Team Dream” contingent includes students from the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union in West Orange, where Ben is in eighth grade.
They’ll seek to raise funds for Ben’s Endowment Fund for Diabetes Research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
“I’m not doing it because it will help me necessarily, but it will help millions of people all over the world who have diabetes,” said Ben, who plans to run a 6.2-mile, or 10-kilometer, race. “There are tons of people like me. So if it’s hard for me to live with diabetes it must also be hard for the millions of other people.”
The fund at the Israeli institute was set up last year after Ben and his family went to Jerusalem for his bar mitzva.
While there, the Hersch family, including his parents, Julie and Jonathan Hersch, visited the Weizmann Institute, where they met with Irun Cohen, the Helene and Morris Mauerberger Professor of Immunology, whose team is testing the first vaccine for diabetes.
The meeting was arranged by James Gurland, executive director of the Fairfield-based New Jersey region of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science. Gurland had befriended the family during his previous position as director of development for the Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley in East Brunswick, where Ben went to elementary school.
Gurland worked with the family to get Ben’s Fund up and running.
“In a few years we hope there will be a significant amount of money, which will last in perpetuity,” said the West Caldwell resident, who will himself be running a half-marathon in Atlantic City. “If each runner gets 20 sponsors, it’s really a significant amount of money.”
Ben’s team has already brought in about $20,000 to the Weizmann fund.
Ben Hersch’s Team Dream will compete Oct. 19 in the Atlantic City Marathon to raise money for diabetes research.
The hotel expenses for all runners are paid through the donations received, but runners from outside the area must cover their own travel expenses. All remaining money is given to the fund.
Ben said the idea to run for research came from his father, a long-time runner. Ben served as youth chair of the American Diabetes Walk 2007 and has been running with his father since he was young, despite having diabetes.
“When I run I have to keep checking my blood sugar to make sure it doesn’t get too low,” he explained. “I have to eat before and after I run. Otherwise, I have a normal life. I have an insulin pump I use everyday.”
Months before Ben was diagnosed, Jonathan had participated in a marathon to benefit leukemia research. He also ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington for the American Diabetes Foundation.
After Ben was diagnosed, Jonathan recruited colleagues, members of his college track team from Duke University, and friends from the Raritan Valley Schechter to run on Team Benjamin. The team also received significant financial support from members of the Hersches’ synagogue, Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen and from Congregation Brothers of Israel, now in Newtown, Pa., where Ben’s grandfather, Howard Hersch, is rabbi.
Since the group began running, it has brought in about $250,000 for ADF’s diabetes research.
Team Dream, with its new name and new beneficiary, was Ben’s idea. The team in Atlantic City will be a mix of runners and walkers from age six to the 70-year-old grandmother of three Schechter students.
Joining Jonathan, a 1984 graduate of Lawrence High School, will be many teammates from his high school track team and its former coach to celebrate the 25th anniversary of winning the state championship.
“One of my teammates Googled and tracked down everybody,” said Jonathan. “I have a professor coming from England, a soil research scientist coming from Idaho, two from Florida, and lots more local people.”
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