2024 will be my 16th consecutive PMC, once again riding the full 192 mile two-day ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod!
My team, Carie's Crew, is a strong, dedicated, and inspiring crew that has now raised over 1 million dollars for the PMC - a remarkable amount of money for cancer research, treatment and programs. It's a fantastic event.
This year I'm also riding with Team Beachcomber, in support of an amazing 8 year old girl named Calista who's currently battling Lymphoblastic leukemia. She's local, lives right around the corner from us, and we're proud to be a part of #CalistasCrew on this ride!
The money I raise will be split among 3 important causes:
- The Pediatric Brain Tumor Center
- Dr. Ng's Research Fund for colorectal cancer
- The Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer
More on my personal connection with each of these below:
We ride in memory of my friend / cousin-in-law Vann Ly, who passed away April 2018 after courageously battling colorectal cancer. Vann's spirit and love of life inspired us to raise both awareness, and funds to help others. Vann loved Captain America, and we ride in Captain America cycling jerseys in Vann's honor. A portion of the money we raise will go to Vann's doctor, Dr. Ng's Research Fund.
My involvement with The Pediatric Brain Tumor Center began in 2016 when I met Nathan. Nathan was 7 at the time and I had the pleasure of coaching his little league team. Nathan is a great fun loving kid, and a good ball player, but there’s a lot more to Nathan’s story. Nathan found out when he was 4 that he had an incurable brain tumor - Pediatric Low Grade Glioma. After multiple surgeries and 14 months of chemo, he had to re-learn how to walk, then run. He had to re-learn how to write, and throw a ball - left handed this time. Fortunately, Nathan’s tumor is stable for now, and his prognosis is very good. His doctor at Dana-Farber, Mark Kieran, is one of the world leaders in researching Nathan’s type of tumor, and that’s in large part the result of funding they get from us via the PMC. The Team Nathan Fund is a special fund Nathan’s parents have set up at Dana-Farber to support the research, trials, and treatments Dr Kieran and his colleagues develop for pediatric brain tumors like Nathan’s.
The Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer is a program our fearless leader Carie helped start and has been involved in ever since. It's been a remarkable program helping so many young women dealing with breast cancer.
In 2009, my brother Ben and I decided that this would be a great challenge in memory of our grandmother, Charlotte Zucker, who had just recently passed away after multiple bouts of cancer. Hers started in 1995 with lymphoma and then breast cancer. She tackled them both with determination and conviction. She went through treatments, beat the cancers, and emerged with an even stronger love of life. In 2007 though, her cancer came back, and this time, took her from us. I will forever be grateful for all that time that I had with her.
Please join my PMC Paceline by donating to my fundraising efforts, and helping in this fight against cancer!
Thank you very much for supporting my ride and my fundraising efforts!
My Links
My PMC Page
Carie's Crew
Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Center at Dana-Farber
The Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Cernter at Dana-Farber
Sturbridge to Provincetown Route
Vann Ly
