My seventh Pan Mass Challenge ride has arrived and although my sixth ride was a bit different from past PMC rides the PMC family “Reimagined” the weekend. We didn’t all ride together on our traditional routes or on any specific days, but instead, we all rode in different places across the country and the world, sharing our message of philanthropy and hope in an effort to defeat cancer.

Cancer does not recognize pandemics or quarantines, so in the eyes of cancer, this past year was business as usual.

The impacts of cancer were not squelched, and the battles continued. So, on January 5th I signed up for my seventh PMC ride, praying that we can find a cure and declare a victory.

So, to Hope, Theo Jimmy, Billy, George, Jimmy, and the others whose memories I carry with me each year; to those who are in the midst of their own battles against cancer, and to those who have defeated it, know that I will carry your names with me again this year as I ride.

In 2020, despite COVID-19, the PMC raised $50 million for Dana Farber. On August 7th, my cousin Chris and I will again join our PMC Family, in the 42nd Pan Mass Challenge. The kindness, support, and generosity you have shown me are the foundation of my ride and the hope of those at Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund who put your dollars to work, focusing on life-saving research and patient care. Each time I clip into the pedals of my bike and complete one mile and the next one, I am positive that together we are making a difference in finding cures for cancer.

As I have concluded each of my previous messages: Think of the worst day you recently had at work or at school, or how your kids were acting up, or the disagreement you had with your spouse, or all of the above (even while quarantined), and then think of that adult or child at Dana Farber who went through another round of treatments, and ask yourself “What kind of day is he or she having?”

Please consider supporting my ride in this year’s Pan Mass Challenge.

Thank you and God bless.