On August 2nd and 3rd, I will ride my 18th Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) in honor of Harry and the many kids fighting cancer as part of the Pedals for Pediatrics team. This year is particularly meaningful as it was twenty years ago Harry was diagnosed with a brain tumor and if has been five years since he died. Sadly, there have not been many advances in treatments for Craniopharyngioma brain tumors. My hope is that no kid will have to suffer as Harry did from this tumor or any other form of pediatric cancer. So, once again, Harry remains my inspiration to ride.
Dedicated to “easing the burden of childhood cancer” for children and families, our team, Pedals for Pediatrics, has raised over $7 million dollars since 2004. Each and every dollar raised provides direct financial assistance, program support and pediatric cancer research by giving financial assistance to families in need, supporting programming for kids and families, and providing dollars for pediatric cancer research.Thanks to your incredible support, love and commitment, Kevin and I have raised over $500,000 over the past 18 years to support a range of essential pediatric programs and research efforts at Dana Farber and Boston Children's Hospital.
This year, half of the funds I raise will go to Pediatric Brain Tumor lab at Dana Farber. Dr. Mimi Bandopadhayay, who was part of Harry’s medical team, heads up this lab and among her many research projects, there is one titled “the Harry Clark project” where a research team is focused on further understanding Craniopharyngioma tumors. As you can imagine, there are not a lot of research dollars focus on Craniopharyngioma tumors so each dollar donated will have a tremendous impact on the research efforts currently underway.
I am extremely grateful for your support of our PMC rides. I sincerely hope you’ll consider making a donation again this year, especially in honor of Harry. To do so, you can either make an online donation here https://profile.pmc.org/EG0070 or you can send a check made out to the PMC to 34 Summit Road, Wellesley, MA 02482.
Finally, please know how grateful and humbled our family is by your continued support. We appreciate all of our friends and family who have stood by all of us, especially Harry, over these years. I remain forever grateful. Thank you!
XO Eunice
