This spring I have committed to raising over $10,000 for life-saving cancer research by participating in the Pan-Mass Challenge - a bike-a-thon that raises more money for charity than any other single athletic fundraising event in the country - to bring us Closer by the Mile to a cure for cancer. Since its founding in 1980, PMC riders like me have raised more than $1 billion for lifesaving cancer research, treatment and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the country's top cancer care hospitals, making a difference in the lives of patients at Dana-Farber and around the world. The funds I raise support the innovative work of doctors, nurses, and scientists in their search for cures for cancers and related diseases.

My friend and fellow rower Jim Moses, who I have been supporting in this challenge for years, invited me to join his team, and I am thrilled. I will be riding with the Turkey Hill gang from Wellesley to Provincetown to raise money for this effort.

Over the years, too many of my family and friends have battled cancer. My uncle and aunt, two of the loveliest people I know, died within two years of each other from leukemia and skin cancer, respectively. Both my parents have struggled with cancer and, but for treatment, would have perished. This year my dear friend Jeff Meyer--a brilliant jurist and wonderful person--succumbed to lymphoma after almost two years of treatment and experimental trials, including at Dana Farber.

So you can feel confident that your contribution makes a difference, you should know that 100 percent of every dollar I raise goes directly to Dana-Farber, meaning that your donation has a real impact!

Please donate to my PMC fundraising and lend whatever support you can to sponsor me on this ride. Every dollar counts.

Mark