Dear Friends
On August 5th & 6th, I will ride 180 miles in my 9th PMC to raise money to find a cure for pediatric brain cancer.
Thank you to all of you who have sponsored my past rides and helped me raise over $50,000 to fund the Dana Farber Kid's Brain Tumor Program. With the wonderful support of you and many others, PMC teams have raised over 2.5 million dollars for Dana Farber’s kids’ brain tumor program— an astonishing and meaningful amount of money. Together, are making a concrete difference in kids’ lives.
By “concrete” I mean the results of your support are palpable. My favorite example: a beautiful young boy named Nathan was facing profound tumor-related impairments three years ago when he became the first child in the world to join the trial for TAK580 (now Day101), the first drug created by our lab at Dana Farber. Within a year of starting the trial, Nathan’s tumor had disappeared. As one of our long-time supporters recently told me, it is hard to imagine a more gratifying and immediate return on investment.
As thrilled as we all are with Dana Farber's success at fighting Kids Brain Cancer, we still have much work to do - as Day101 helps many kids, but not all. This year I am dedicating my fundraising efforts, my training, and my ride to my friend Declan Vail. Declan is a beautiful young boy who will turn 7 in March. Declan was diagnosed with pediatric brain cancer at age 3. His tumor has mutated in a way that our initial drug has not been able to shrink.
Dr. Mindi, who runs the Dana Farber Kids Brain Tumor research lab is committed to develop additional drugs and treatments to shrink the kind of tumor Declan and so many other kids have, writing:
Our project that is very much focused on the kind of tumor Declan has. We are all systems go on this project and we won't stop.
I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider supporting my ride this year to raise money so all kids and their families fighting pediatric brain cancer can live their lives to the fullest.
You can do so by going to www.pmc.org/cu0007 or mailing a check to:
Craig Underwood 83504-2 | Pan-Mass Challenge | PO Box 415590 | Boston, MA 02241
Thank you so very much for your support!
CHU
