I am a little late in posting this but better late than never! The 2024 Pan Mass Challenge will take place on Aug. 3rd and 4th - in two days!

I want to first thank so many of you who have been contributing to this cause for literally decades. You know you are surrounded by the most generous and kind friends and family in the world when you have raised more than a third of your goal and you haven't even sent out a letter or posted any fundraising information yet!

This year, the PMC has hit an unprecedented lifetime fundraising total of 1 billion dollars for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. With your help over the years, I have raised over $130,000.

I am blessed to have been healthy enough to ride for so many years and to do so in honor of many survivors including my husband who has benefited from the research your dollars fund. Since 2006, when Pat was first diagnosed with cancer, we have experienced firsthand, the power of your donations. We literally watched the construction of a new Dana Farber building funded by the PMC during Pat’s appointments at the start of his treatment. Most of you who read this have been touched in some way by cancer. So much progress has been made since I started riding back in the late 1997, but so much more work needs to be done.

This year I will again be riding with Team BrainStorms in honor of Declan Vail, the incredibly brave and resilient 8-year-old who is presently in treatment at Dana Farber. Half of the money I raise this year will go into the general PMC fund and half will support research for pediatric brain cancer, in hopes of find a cure for Declan and other children with PLGGs with an FGFR1 mutation (his type of Brain Tumor).

Please consider joining us for our annual Pottery Sale Fundraiser Sunday, October 6th from 11:00 - 3:00 at 21 Swampscott Ave in Peabody. I will send out another announcement after PMC weekend with more details. If you cannot join us in October, you can still sponsor my ride by using the link http://www.pmc.org/egifts/AO0005 to make your pledge. You can also go to www.pmc.org and search Annie O'Shea or you can donate the old fashion way by mailing a check to me at 21 Swampscott Ave., Peabody, MA 01960. Checks should be made out to PMC/Jimmy Fund.

I continue to ride in memory of so many we have lost and in honor of the many survivors who are now cancer free and those who are presently fighting this disease.

Thank you for your kindness.

Annie