This year, I am proud to be joining my colleagues in the Pan-Mass Challenge - a bike-a-thon that raises more money for charity than any other single athletic fundraising event in the country - to bring us Closer by the Mile to a cure for cancer.

I have had several family members' lives affected by cancer and have seen the toll that it takes on those with the disease as well as their loved ones around them. I hope to be a part of the solution by raising funds for continued research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Since its founding in 1980, PMC riders like me have raised more than $1 billion for lifesaving cancer research, treatment and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the country's top cancer care hospitals. The funds I raise will support the innovative work of doctors, nurses, and scientists in their search for cures for cancers and related diseases.

100 percent of every dollar I raise goes directly to Dana-Farber, meaning that your donation has a real impact! Please donate to my PMC fundraising and help me reach my fundraising goal.