Your donation will be matched 3:1 (TRIPLED)!!!

YES! Every gift given to the Parseghian Fund through the Notre Dame Day page will be MATCHED 3:1 by an anonymous donor! Our goal is to raise $333,333 and that will be TRIPLED by a generous donor who will donate an additional $1,000,000!!!!! (*note the maximum of the donor match is $1 million)

Learn about the Parseghian Fund and our efforts to find a cure for NPC disease below, and how you can participate and help us to reach our goal:

"We miss Michael, Marcia and Christa so dearly. They--along with all the others who've lost their battles to NPC--have given us a...legacy of hope." - Cindy Parseghian

What is NPC disease and how can you help?

The Ara Parseghian Medical Research Fund (APMRF) at Notre Dame is dedicated to finding a treatment or cure for Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease—a rare and deadly neurodegenerative disorder that primarily strikes children, with death occurring before or during adolescence.

The APMRF was formed in 1994 when Cindy and Mike Parseghian’s three youngest children—Michael, Marcia, and Christa—were diagnosed with NPC disease. The family launched the foundation and named it after the children’s grandfather, Ara Parseghian, the much beloved and well-known Notre Dame football coach.

At the time the foundation started, the cause of NPC was unknown, and there were no treatments. However, since the launch of the APMRF, they have supported over 100 NPC researchers all over the world and significant progress has been made. Scientists have discovered the genetic cause of the disease, the biological pathway has been well studied, and there are multiple potentially life-saving therapeutics in clinical trials. Now, through its grant program and collaborative research initiatives, the APMRF brings together scientific, medical, and industrial leaders to conduct leading edge medical research in the field of NPC disease.

Due to the longstanding relationship between the University of Notre Dame and the Parseghian family, the foundation merged with the University in 2016 and launched the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Fund to continue the efforts of the Parseghian family.

The Parseghians eventually lost Marcia, Christa, and Michael to NPC, but their fight endures on behalf of their children and all those families who continue to face this fatal and tragic disease.

Notre Dame Day and the University Challenge Fund

Today we know a great deal about the once-obscure disease, thanks to their courage, perseverance and commitment of the Parseghian family and all NPC families...and because of you, the APMRF's great supporters! With YOUR help, the Parseghian family's fight continues to FIND A CURE for all of those other families and children facing this fatal disease.

A minimum donation of $5 to the Parseghian Fund on our NDDAY page will determine the percentage of a $250,000 Challenge Fund. To illustrate, if APMRF collects 2% of all gifts throughout the contest, we will receive an additional $5,000 from the challenge fund. (If we collect 4%, then we will receive $10,000, etc.).

About the Anonymous Donor Match:

Every gift and dollar raised by the challenge fund to the Parseghian Fund through the Notre Dame Day page will be MATCHED 3:1 by an anonymous donor! Yes! Your gift will be TRIPLED! Our goal is to raise $333,333 and that will be matched 3:1, and a generous and anonymous donor will donate an additional $1,000,000!!!!! (*note the maximum of the donor match is $1 million)

How to Donate

Step 1) Make a minimum gift of $5 to the APMRF by clicking on the "Make A Gift" button or one of the giving levels.

Step 2) Follow the link & fill out the donation form.

Step 3) Please ask your friends and family members to give $5 to the APMRF.

When can we see the gift total? The voting Leaderboard will not be visible until the start of the Notre Dame Day webcast on Sunday, April 24 at 6:42 pm.

Notre Dame ESTEEM program joins the Parseghian Fund for NDDAY

This year Students from the ESTEEM Master's program at Notre Dame will be taking on the will be the 10th Bike Ride for a Cure which raises funds and awareness for the Parseghian Fund at Notre Dame. Over the past 10 years, the bike rides have visited over 160 cities, held over 135 events, been featured in a number of news stories and articles, and raised over $2.5 million for NPC disease research.

They will be using Notre Dame Day to help solicit donations for the bike ride so they are matched!

Additionally, students from the ESTEEM master’s program at Notre Dame are organizing the 2022 bike ride, which is a three-day ride from May 8-11, 2022, traveling a modified route from Grand Rapids, MI to Chicago, IL. You can learn more about the ride and events at: https://parseghianfund.nd.edu/events/bike-ride-for-a-cure/

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