The Pan Mass Challenge 2021 - JimsPMC.com

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.

• This is my 23rd year participating in the Pan Mass Challenge .... a 2-day 192-mile cycle each August across Massachusetts.
• 2021 also marks Melissa’s 10th ride, and Cormac’s 3rd ride
• My ride in 2021 is dedicated to ‘Living Proof Survivors’ at Dana Farber

Pan Mass Challenge 2021

As we all know cancer hasn’t slowed down during the Pandemic, and neither will we ….

This year’s PMC ride is again modified due to the pandemic... but we still have a $50 million goal to support the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Why I PMC

The PMC continues to make an unparalleled impact in the fight against cancer.
Proof of this is almost 1,000 PMC 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!

PPP for 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, 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.

Quote:
“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

Ken’s success at Dana Farber is why New England Patriots owner and Institute Trustee Robert K. Kraft has recently made another gift to honor his longtime partnership with Dana-Farber. The endowed Kraft Family Chair will support the Institute’s innovative work in hematological malignancies.

The Chair will be renamed the Kraft Family and Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Chair at Dana-Farber, to recognize Dr. Anderson’s preeminence in multiple myeloma research.

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This year, together with Melissa and Cormac, we hope to raise $10,000 for Dana Farber

• Our New England Patriots-sponsored team, the 200+-member “Patriots Platelet Pedalers”, 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
  
  Important facts to know regarding your gift ...
• 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 the PMC have contributed $717 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

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I CANNOT END MY ANNUAL APPEAL WITHOUT AN INVITATION TO JOIN US WEEKLY … MONTHLY … HECK EVEN ONCE ...
AT THE KRAFT FAMILY BLOOD DONOR CENTER IN BOSTON.

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.

So, as I once asked … what are Platelets?

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Platelets exist as 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, the Platelets bind to the site of the damaged vessel, thereby causing your blood to clot.

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

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

Considering Platelets have a short 5-day shelf life, supplies for the Dana Farber patients need to be continuously replenished. Please consider this very important donation. It is truly a gift of life

Here is a 2 minute video of one of our Platelet beneficiaries –

Casey Is Living Proof http://www.tinyurl.com/CaseyIsLivingProof

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 (538-7448) / or // 617-632-3206

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Thank you as always for your ongoing support of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund!

We really appreciate it!

Sincerely,


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