Dear Friends and
Colleagues,
Well ….. I’m at it again … and will ride the
two-day, 192 mile Pan Massachusetts Challenge. As many of you know, this is the
largest fund raising event in the world supporting cancer research and
treatment in the United States with this two-day event regularly raising $35
million, all of which is employed directly to fight this terrible disease.
Why Donate?
So many of our friends and family members have
been afflicted by cancer that we are committed to raising money for this
important cause and hope that you will support us in this important
effort. This will be my sixth year of participation and second year riding
the entire route. I am dedicating my ride to my Dad who passed away two years
ago on the day of the event after a courageous battle with Esophageal cancer.
He was a wonderful person who fought for this country in the Normandy invasion
at age 18 and came back from war to participate in building a great America! I
am also riding this year with Team Kermit, a team that is devoted to raising
money to support treatment for childhood cancer disease through the PMC and
Jimmy Fund. Cancer creates emotional, physical and financial trauma for the
families of its victims and I will be matching all funds in excess of my fund
raising minimum with a check to the PMC.
One More Good Reason to Donate
I welcome all of my previous sponsors and new
friends and colleagues to support this important cause. As a way of thanking
you for your support I will auction off a gift card (or cash equivalent) for
a new iPad to one lucky contributor. To be eligible for a
chance at the I pad, you need to pledge $50 and for each increment of $50
(should you pledge more) you will be granted an additional chance to win. My
daughter Carolyn will pick one lucky winner at random!
How to Donate?
The PMC is the charity that we have decided to
dedicate our greatest energies to and we would like to ask your help in raising
money for this worthy cause. My fund raising goal for 2013 is $15,000. A
donation of any size will be greatly appreciated and helpful to the cause. In
order to participate, please indicate a pledge amount that you feel comfortable
with and simply send a return email (josephcoote@ymail.com) with your pledge and
mail me a check or make an e-donation at the pan mass website (www.pmc.org) by clicking on "make a
donation" then "online giving" then "credit card gift"
then "e-gift" referencing my e-gift code JC0506.
If you would
like to dedicate your donation to someone dear, please include his or her name
in a brief note or email. I will submit the names for publication on the
PMC site.
Your tax-deductible check can be made payable to PMC/Jimmy Fund. You
can mail them to me at my home address (15 Graystone Lane, Weston, MA
02493). If you have questions please don't hesitate to call me (781-472-9762).
About the PMC
For those of you not familiar
with the The PMC (www.pmc.org),
it is a great charity where every dollar contributed goes to work as the single
largest contributor to the Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an
organization dedicated to the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure and
prevention of cancer and related diseases (more about the good work of the
Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber below).
Each year, nearly 1.4 million new
cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States, a figure that does not
include the 900,000 cases of skin cancer diagnosed annually. Cancer is the
second leading cause of death (after heart disease) in the United States,
accounting for 560,000 deaths every year. While more than 3 million people are
diagnosed with cancer around the globe each year, the figure most likely
represents just a percentage of people who have the disease but remain
undiagnosed due to decreased access to healthcare in different parts of the
world.
Thank you for your help in
supporting this worthwhile cause!
Sincerely,
Joe
About the Jimmy Fund
The Jimmy Fund supports the fight
against cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helping to increase the chances
of survival for children and adults with cancer around the world. Since 1948,
thousands of events, coupled with the generosity of millions of people, have
raised more then $300 million for the Jimmy Fund and helped save countless
lives by furthering cancer research and care at Dana-Farber.
The Jimmy Fund has been integral
to the success of treatment for once-incurable childhood cancers. Over the past
55 years, survival rates for pediatric oncology patients have increased from 20
to nearly 80 percent, and are as high as 90 percent for some forms of the
disease. Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic remains one of the world's premier centers
for pediatric cancer research and treatment and is part of a medical complex
that has made innumerable inroads in the treatment of adult cancers as well.
About the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
The mission of Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute is to provide expert, compassionate care to children and adults with
cancer while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and
prevention of cancer and related diseases. As an affiliate of Harvard Medical
School and a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer
Institute, Dana-Farber also provides training for new generations of physicians
and scientists, designs programs that promote public health particularly among
high-risk and underserved populations, and disseminates innovative patient
therapies and scientific discoveries to our target community across the United
States and throughout the world. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's ultimate goal
is the eradication of cancer, AIDS, and related diseases and the fear that they
engender. Above all else, Dana-Farber makes a difference by relieving the
burden of disease now and for the future through our research, clinical care,
education, outreach and advocacy
