Dear Friends,
This year, on Aug. 1 - 3, I will be riding my bike close to 300 miles in my 15th Pan Mass Challenge, raising money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. As in years past we will be adding an additional day, and about 96 miles, onto the official PMC and will ride from the NY border to Sturbridge MA on Friday, Aug 1; we call that day 0. Then, Aug 2&3 the official 192 miles of the PMC from Sturbridge to Provincetown, MA a true pan Mass ride.
This year I have personally committed to raise $6,000 for the PMC/DFCI.
This year will feel very different from years past. On December 30, our team captain and my dear friend, who recruited me to start riding the PMC 15 years ago lost her fight with cancer. Diane Legg was a force, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in October of 2024 and was able to keep the disease at bay for more years than anyone thought possible, but unfortunately as her cancer continued to morph she ran out of new treatment options. In the 20 years from her diagnosis until she passed away this winter, she was tireless in her fight to raise awareness and funding for lung cancer research. She started the LungStrong non-profit, and was constantly traveling to speak at events, meet with law makers, and speak to anyone who could help rally support and raise funds to fight this disease. But she was never to busy to support other cancer patients, talking to anyone who asked for help, guiding them through the newest treatment options and even attending medical appointments with them if they needed support. Anyone who met Diane never forget her, I know I never will,
As you know I started riding the PMC 15 years ago after losing my sister Patty to breast cancer on Thanksgiving Day in 2009. After her passing I was looking for a way to honor her memory. My friend Diane asked me to join the fledgling LungStrong team to help raise money specifically for lung cancer research. After learning about the disease and lack of financial and social support I knew I found a way to honor Patty.
When I signed up for that first ride in 2010, I figured I would ride once and be done. But now that I am coming up on ride number 15 I am as committed to this ride and this cause as my first year. Despite the heroic work Diane put in over the past 20 years, lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer deaths for both women and men in the US, responsible for over 20% of cancer deaths and receives the least amount of research funding.
This year with the funding cuts at the federal level across all areas of medical and cancer research your donations will be even more critical to allowing research to continue and treatments to be discovered.
15 years in I am continually reminded why I and many others do this ride. Over these 15 years, we have lost family members, friends, several of our LungStrong team members and now Diane to lung cancer. Though we have made a lot of progress in treatment and detection in the past 15 years, we still have a long way to go to defeat this disease. This is why I continue to ride in the PMC with Team LungStrong.
One hundred percent of the funds raised by the PMC go to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. One hundred percent of the funds that Team LungStrong raises through the PMC will go directly to lung cancer research at Dana Farber's Lowe Center of Thoracic Oncology. DFCI is a leader in innovative lung cancer research and is working diligently to find a cure.
There are many worthy organizations in need of money; I ask for help to raise funds for the DFCI to continue their lung cancer research for Diane and all lung cancer patients and help me ride with the memory of my sister.
Thank you for your support.
Matt
My Links
http://www.lungstrong.org
