Hundreds Support DART to the Finish Charity Walk and Help Raise More than $190,000 for Rare Childhood Disease Niemann-Pick type C (NPC)

Proceeds from ninth annual walk supports ongoing research into potential treatments and helps fund a National Institutes of Health researcher dedicated to NPC

GREENWICH, Conn., October 6, 2026 — A picture-perfect fall day provided the backdrop for the ninth annual DART to the Finish Charity Walk on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Greenwich Point Park, where hundreds of families, friends and supporters came together to help raise more than $190,000 for research into Niemann-Pick type C, a rare childhood disease often referred to as “childhood Alzheimer’s.”

While the Walk was DART’s ninth annual, DART has been holding fundraisers since its founding in 2002. Started by Greenwich parents Andrea and Phil Marella, DART’s mission is deeply personal, as they founded the organization after two of their four children, Dana and Andrew, were diagnosed with NPC. Dana was just eight-years-old when she was diagnosed, at a time when no known treatments were available. The disease took a toll on Dana and impacted her ability to walk, talk and eat, as well as her cognitive abilities. She passed away in 2013, just days before her 20th birthday. For the Marella’s youngest son Andrew, his life has been much different than Dana’s, as he has been able to undergo new treatments, funded in part by DART.

Today, Andrew is 27-years-old and benefits from a combination of treatments that did not exist when his sister was diagnosed, including two medications approved specifically for NPC in 2024. His complex four-medication regimen, which includes a monthly spinal infusion, underscores both the progress made and the continuing need for treatments that are more effective and easier for patients and families to manage.

“While Andrew and many of the other NPC children are doing so much better today with these treatments, there is still more research that needs to be funded,” said Andrea Marella, Andrew’s mother and co-founder of DART. “This is why we keep walking; why we keep fundraising.”

At Saturday’s DART to the Finish Charity Walk, Andrew was actually up and walking, with support from his brother Phillip, which for many NPC patients, is a miracle.

“I looked over and saw Andrew standing next to Phillip and was just so proud,” noted Andrea. “24 years ago, when DART was just starting out, reaching this milestone for a NPC patient would have been unthinkable. But here is Andrew, now 27 years old, standing, smiling and communicating. He does have limitations and the disease has impacted him with seizures, and mobility and cognitive issues, but thanks to the treatments he is on, which have been funded in part by the funds raised by DART, Andrew is alive and thriving. He actually works two days a week at the Prospector Theater in Ridgefield, works out with a trainer, and does so much more— all thanks to the science we’ve been able to fund through events like our DART Walk.”

Proceeds from this year’s DART to the Finish Charity Walk will support a dedicated NPC researcher DART is helping fund at the National Institutes of Health, as well as other potential life-saving treatments, including gene therapy, which looks promising for NPC and other cholesterol-related diseases like heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

“We are deeply grateful to everyone who walks, donates and volunteers, as well as our wonderful sponsors,” said DART co-founder Phil Marella. “The money raised helps accelerate NPC research and care, supporting clinical trials, helping to expand newborn screenings and advancing access to approved and emerging treatments. We couldn’t do the important work we do without the amazing support of our friends and whole community.”

DART’s research priorities range from disease-tracking biomarkers and newborn screening to new drug development and a potential gene therapy trial. Phil also shared that DART is hoping to see another one of its funded treatments approved by the FDA this November.

“Areas like biomarkers, can help researchers measure how NPC is progressing and whether a treatment is working, which is particularly important in a rare disease where clinical trials involve relatively small numbers of patients,” noted Phil Marella. “DART is excited to be supporting this work and seeing progress with those impacted the most.”

Dr. Cristin Davidson of the NIH told the supporters that NIH researchers are working with New York-based biotechnology company Apertura Gene Therapy on a next-generation gene therapy approach for NPC. The preclinical work involves a delivery system designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and deliver a therapeutic gene more broadly throughout the central nervous system. Helping fund a researcher to support this effort is an immediate priority for DART.  Last weekend’s Walk helps fund this work and make this position a reality.

Since its founding in 2002, DART has raised more than $6.8 million for NPC research, helping support laboratory research, biomarker development, clinical trials, drug development and early detection. DART also thanks event sponsors and community partners, including Landis Partners, the Weisenburger Trust, Trinity Church, Beren Therapeupics, Jusko Wealth Management Group, the Jones Family, Prospector Theater, Palmer Point Marina, the Bickerstaff Family, Mercedes-Benz of Greenwich, Greenwich Shell, Gault Family Companies and Chicken Joes.