The PMC fund raising bike ride for the Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund is just around the corner. And once again, I ask for your support to continue my ride. Every dollar raised goes to provide care and finance research in the battle against cancer.

All of us know somebody who has been touched by cancer and have witnessed the devastating impact of learning the diagnosis and confronting the frightening prospect of choosing between treatment options. Time and again as I have faced this crisis with patients and family I realize how lucky we are to live in Boston where we are blessed with one of the greatest cancer treatment centers in the world.

As I ride the 170 miles from Wellesley to Bourne to Provincetown I am reminded at every turn, every doorstep of the impact and the reach of the work done at the Dana Farber. Grateful families and mourning families, kids in the middle of chemotherapy wearing their bald heads with pride, survivors, some riding their bikes alongside on the road, nurses, doctors, firemen, policemen, lawyers, children, more than 5000 riders each year… Everybody knows how important the Pan Mass Challenge is for their past and future and for those who will inevitably follow. This sense of gratitude is made possible only by your generosity.

Please support me in raising funds for this important cause by pledging a tax-deductible contribution for my two-day trek across Massachusetts. I will be riding with the group supporting the Zakim Center for Integrative Care at the Dana Farber Cancer Center. Lenny Zakim was a hero to many as a leader and an international spokesman for human rights and equality. But he was also a pioneer in his efforts to open the minds of the treatment team to alternative approaches to cancer care. I feel privileged once again to have the health and stamina to be able to ride in his name.

Your check should be made payable to the PMC/JIMMY FUND with a notation of my rider ID MS0322 and mailed to me in the self-addressed envelope. Alternatively, you can contribute on-line at the PMC.org website. Again, be sure to include my e-gift rider ID. Every contribution, no matter how large or small, makes a difference. Thank you for your support.

Martin Solomon