I'm getting ready to ride in my 8th Pan-Mass Challenge in a few weeks, and I’m filled with gratitude! For my health, for the strength to keep riding, and for your support that has helped me raise more than $91,000 for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber over the last 7 years.

When I first joined team FLAMES, I had just entered remission from lymphoma. I asked my doctor, Ann LaCasce (who is also my teammate!) how I could give back. She pointed me to team captain JD Hale. I sent him an email, clipped in for my first PMC ride, and as many of you know, I’ve never looked back!

Every summer since, I pin a colorful list of names to my jersey: friends, family members, and friends-of-friends who are in treatment, in remission, or who we’ve lost. It’s my way of riding with - and for - them. If there’s someone you’d like me to include this year, I would be honored to carry their name and story with me.

This year, I ride with a new kind of milestone. In February, I got the all-clear, 10 years after being diagnosed, that I officially “graduated” from annual lymphoma checkups. As Dr. LaCasce put it, my bloodwork has been “disgustingly normal” every year since we beat this awful disease. I love being called disgustingly normal.

Even though I no longer need a wristband or get asked if I have a port, Dana-Farber will never be in my rearview mirror. This place, these people, and this mission will always be front and center in my life, and that’s why I keep riding.

This year, our collective efforts are more urgent than ever. As we recently learned, proposed federal budget cuts threaten to gut the NIH’s support for institutions like Dana-Farber, potentially slashing tens of millions of dollars in research funding.

“We ride to raise money. But as importantly, we ride to protect progress. We ride to defend hope. And we ride to ensure that nothing—and no one—stands in the way of funding the cures for cancer.”

I recently returned to Dana-Farber for a special evening with the doctors on my team. They reminded us just how essential your donations are. Philanthropy allows them to move faster. It cuts through the red tape of grants and regulatory delays so they can turn promising ideas into clinical trials, and ultimately into treatments for the patients who need them most.

Every breakthrough helps not just one patient, but many. A discovery in blood cancer can ripple outward, advancing research across all cancers. Philanthropy fuels that ripple effect. Science wins. Patients win. Families, friends, and loved ones win.

With that in mind, I’ve set my 2025 fundraising goal at $12,000. Please help me get there! 100% of your donation—whether it’s $5 or $500—goes directly to Dana-Farber and makes a real impact. Every dollar helps protect the progress we’ve made and powers the next breakthrough.

Thank you for your love, generosity, and continued belief in this mission. You are very much part of my team.

With gratitude,
Michael

PS: If your employer has a Matching Gift Program, please reach out to your HR department—it’s a great way to multiply the impact of your donation.