Dear family and friends,

On August 7, I’ll be riding again — 89 miles! — in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC). This year, I’m doing so on Team Beans, in memory of a little girl I didn’t know, but whose life and death have inspired thousands. All contributions to my ride will be directed to the newly created Team Beans Infant Brain Tumor Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Six-month old Francesca Kaczinski, nicknamed “Beans,” was a happy, seemingly healthy little girl when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last September. (Though rare, brain cancer is now the deadliest form of childhood cancer and the top cause of disease related-death in children under the age of 15.)

After investigating their options, her parents, Andrew Kaczinski and Rachel Ensign, moved from New York to Boston for her to be treated at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which has one of the top programs in the world to treat infant brain tumors. Despite multiple surgeries and intense chemotherapy, she passed away on Christmas Eve.

When Francesca’s story went viral following her father’s social media posts, a rider in PMC’s Winter Cycle started Team Beans to raise funds in Francesca’s name; after her death her parents requested donations be made to the team. Since then, more than $1 million has been raised for the fund at Dana-Farber, a much-needed boost for a woefully underfunded area.

I’m so happy to have the opportunity to participate on Team Beans to build on this momentum and to help improve treatments for infants with pediatric brain cancer.

Thanks so much for considering a gift to the PMC!

Nancy

P.S. Here’s a link to a story about Francesca:

https://www.pmc.org/blog/wbz-story-babys-cancer-battle-inspires-pmc-community