Dear Friends and Family,

I am hoping you can support us again this year with a generous contribution to the Pan Mass Challenge,
which funds the researchers and caregivers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Pan Mass Challenge 2021

• This is my 23rd year participating in the PMC, a 2-day 192-mile cycle each August across Massachusetts
   
• I began riding in 1999 to honor the memory of Emmett, my best friend from Charlestown growing up who passed away far too young
   
• I have learned too much about this awful disease; as we have lost more family and friends over the years including Bonnie’s mom, Betsy,
  I have recommitted each year to the cause of The Jimmy Fund and DFCI
   
• 2021 also marks Melissa’s 10th and Cormac’s 3rd year, volunteering or riding in memory of their grandmother
   
• As we all know cancer hasn’t slowed down during the Pandemic, and neither will we ...we have an unwavering $56 million goal to support the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

This year, in addition to the memory of family and friends that we have lost, my ride in 2021 is dedicated to

• several friends currently undergoing cancer treatment (Joe, Polkie, Nella, Fran … )
   

•  plus many ‘Living Proof Survivors’ who are post-treatment (Peggy, Pam, Ryan, Arthur, Mary, Boo, Courtney, Richie C, Katelyn, Jack, Kate … )
   

• this year in particular I am riding in honor of a very special 3-year-old, “Elise” (See below)

Why I PMC
The Pan Mass Challenge continues to make an unparalleled impact in the fight against cancer.
Evidence of this is almost 1,000 fellow riders - patients who have been treated at Dana Farber - who are now cancer SURVIVORS.
They are Living Proof of your donations and the PMCs efforts!

Your donations are used to fund direct care for patients, and importantly we fund Research and Clinical Trials for the latest advances in treatments –
Stem Cell / Bone Marrow transplants, as well as more recently,
the rapid development of personalized Immunotherapy, where the patient’s own cells are used to boost their body’s immune response to their cancers.

Government funding for this cutting-edge research is limited,
so your PMC funds allow Dana Farber to expand these research studies and the resulting treatment advances at a much faster rate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elise’s Story
I learned that my Fraternity Brother John McCormack’s granddaughter Elise was diagnosed - at age 1 - with High-Risk Neuroblastoma.
Neuroblastomas are cancers that start in early nerve cells (called neuroblasts) of the sympathetic nervous system, so they can be found anywhere along this system. Most neuroblastomas begin in the abdomen, either in an adrenal gland or in sympathetic nerve ganglia.
Most diagnoses of NB are kids under 5, and often before 1 year old.

Elise is an adorable little girl who has fortunately – after 18 months of extensive therapies - completed successful treatment of her tumor at Dana Farber.

Elise’s specific cancer however is known to have a high risk for relapse. Thankfully there is currently no evidence of disease currently in Elise, but given this cancer’s characteristics, her family has opted to enroll Elise in a targeted Clinical Trial. Not all of the costs of these clinical trials are covered by insurance, so donations play a crucial role in funding these advances.

We will continue to monitor Elise’s story,
but the goal for the family is for Elise to have a normally happy childhood, and to look back at this experience as a distant memory.

This year we hope to raise $9,000 for Dana Farber to continue to fund Clinical Trials like Elise’s,
where more is continually learned about the disease, so the most effective long-term treatments become the norm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Important facts to know regarding your contributions:

• The Pan-Mass Challenge is the nation's original fundraising bike-a-thon, and today raises more money for charity than any other athletic fundraising event in the country.
• Since 2007 the PMC has donated 100% of every rider-raised dollar directly to cancer research and treatment at DFCI.
• Since its 1980 inception, donors and riders of the PMC have contributed over $750 million to lifesaving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI)
• The PMC raises more than 50 percent of the annual revenue at The Jimmy Fund, which goes toward easing the burden of patients that are enduring cancer treatment at the Center
• Our New England Patriots-sponsored team, the 180+ member “Patriots Platelet Pedalers” (The PPP)
  raised over $1.2MM for our 2-day ride in 2020, with over $12,000,000 raised in the last 13 years!
  A great team of riders, with a great sponsor, the Kraft Family and the New England Patriots Foundation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to Thank You as always for your ongoing support of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund!
The patients of DFCI really benefit from your generosity!

Sincerely,

Jim Sullivan

We are getting Closer By The Mile ...........

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I cannot end my annual appeal without an invitation to join us
Weekly … Monthly … Even Once ...
AT THE KRAFT FAMILY BLOOD DONOR CENTER IN BOSTON TO DONATE PLATELETS

So, as I once asked … what are Platelets, and why are Platelet donations needed?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Platelets are a component in our blood to stop us from bleeding.
Platelets are the cells that circulate within our blood and bind together when they recognize damaged blood vessels.
When you get a cut, for example, Platelets bind to the site of the damaged vessel, thereby causing your blood to clot.

Our Platelet counts drop when something is preventing the body from producing Platelets.
There are a wide range of causes for this, including:

• Certain types of cancer, such as leukemia or lymphoma
• Chemotherapy treatment for cancer
• Kidney infection or dysfunction,
• Certain medications

Considering that Platelets have a short 5-day shelf life, supplies for the Dana Farber patients need to be continuously replenished.

Casey Is Living Proof of the Value and Importance of Platelet Donations

Here is a 2-minute video of Casey, one of our Platelet beneficiaries:

http://www.tinyurl.com/CaseyIsLivingProof

I am a proud member of the KFBDC ‘Team 20’ Platelet donors who donate 20 + times/ yr.
Donating takes about 1 ½ - 2 hours, and typically yields 2 or 3 units of Platelets for the patients.
You can contact me to learn more about donating Platelets

Or
by sending an email to blooddonor@partners.org

Or
by following this link: https://tinyurl.com/DonateAtKFBDC

Or
by calling (888)-LETS-GIV or (617) 632-3206

Please consider this very important donation. It is truly a gift of life

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Team We Ride for - The PPP

I continue to ride with the New England Patriots Platelet Pedalers – the “PPP”.

Our (Your!) donations continue to fund the research efforts of Dr Kenneth Anderson. Ken is a remarkably successful investigator at Dana Farber,
and his achievements have had profound and wide-ranging benefits in the treatment of blood-based as well as solid tumor cancers.
More to follow on Ken’s scientific achievements, but for glimpse into his character, I have excerpted from an interview with Ken a couple of years back.

Quoting:
“I was introduced to academic medicine by Richard L. Humphrey, MD, from Johns Hopkins Medical School, a myeloma specialist who taught me two important lessons that have served as my motivation ever since:

• “Make science count for patients by improving diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment,
  and
• Treat patients like family.”

Visit https://tinyurl.com/DrKennethAnderson to learn about his remarkable success which is FUNDED BY YOUR DONATIONS!

Dr Anderson’s DFCI BIO is at https://tinyurl.com/DrKenAnderson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~