My most favorite memories growing up were with my cousins. We spent the summers camping down by the beach or up in New Hampshire, riding our bikes for hours, walkie talkies shoved in our pockets as we explored the abandoned tree stand in the woods and played aliens in the dark. Naptime was the best time of day once we were old enough to be excluded from it. The parents once awoke to 8 of us in the bed of my dads truck surrounded by shopping bags filled with crabs that we had collected with Evan sprinkling salt on them.
We lived such carefree and innocent lives until life got really real, really quick. And that is why we ride. We ride to remember Evan, my sweet cousin who lost his battle with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) at only 11 years old. He was diagnosed with DIPG in November of 2011, and passed away in November 2012; exactly a year after his diagnosis. He was diagnosed by the doctors at Dana-Farber while at Boston Children's Hospital. Evan had a way of making everyone he met smile. He is remembered as the boy who frequently had mischief in his eyes and a chocolate chip cookie in his hand. We ride so that there is hope for other families.
Everything we do from January through October is all about raising funds and awareness for DIPG; it has become who we are, and is a mission we tackle with the same spirit of our sweet cousin who fought this terrible disease.
Three years ago, in the midst of a global pandemic, we reached an incredible fundraising milestone of $1,000,000. An amount of money that appears virtually unobtainable, yet ten years later, our total amount fundraised for DIPG research at Dana Farber has surpassed it. There aren’t quite the words to express how incredibly thankful we are for the support from family and friends over the past 10 years. Their generosity is unmatched and we wouldn’t be where we are today without them.
So here I am, back with my trusty red tutu for year FIVE. Riding for Evan and riding for a cure.
100% of all donations made to Team Evan's Crew will directly fund DIPG research at Dana-Farber through the Evan T. Mandeville DIPG Research Fund.
