Actor Patrick Dempsey has been back in his native state of Maine over the past couple of days and things got physical. The “Grey’s Anatomy” vet just returned to his hometown of Lewiston, where he helped host this year’s Dempsey Challenge and all of its exercise-heavy activities.
The star joined a crowd of people as they clocked in quite the mileage on the annual event’s cycling and running courses. Throughout the two days of fitness festivities, he’s cheered and handed out high-fives to participants from the sidelines, in addition to helmeting up and personally hitting the bike trails alongside the throngs of riders.
When folks were able to take a breather and enjoy some of the Dempsey Challenge’s less strenuous offerings, the actor was also seen providing ample entertainment. As guests refueled with a selection of Maine craft beer, wine and food truck eats, the celeb was spotted manning the drums during a live musical performance, hanging out with a pack of college kids from Bates and showing off his juggling skills — a hobby that, fun fact, he did competitively when he was young.
All of the physical exertion from this weekend’s schedule raised not only heart rates, but also funds for the Dempsey Center. As one might surmise from the foundation’s name, the star formed the nonprofit back in 2008 in honor of his mother, Amanda, who later died from ovarian cancer in 2014 after a decadeslong battle with the disease. Now operating in partnership with the Cancer Community Center in South Portland, the New England organization has added a second location, where it continues to provide free support services to cancer patients to supplement their medical care.
With plans for expansion throughout Maine, Dempsey personally told the Track last month that he also hoped to eventually bring the center’s reach to Boston. “My mother was treated at Mass General,” he told us at the time. “This is a community that is very important to me. … And at some point, we’ll have a center here, I think, because there are so many people coming down (from Maine for treatment).”
