This past Sunday was my Mom’s 84th birthday. In the midst of all of the celebration, it hit me like a bolt of lightning how lucky I am. There I was sitting in my front yard, enjoying a NH lobster bake courtesy of my little brother Matt, a local lobsterman, surrounded by friends and multiple generations of family. I looked around. Celebrating alongside my mom was my Dad, 86 years old, diagnosed with cancer 30 1/2 years ago when our first child Emily was 6 months old. My two parents together; happy and healthy. Thank god for the advances to cancer research.
I can’t imagine how different my life would have been if my Dad had not survived his cancer diagnosis. How different it would have been for my husband Guy to not have one of his biggest supporters. How different my children’s lives would have been without a grandfather who I lived around the corner and was an active part of their lives every single day.
Others at the party had not been so fortunate. My brother had lost his wife to breast cancer just 18 months earlier. Cousins had lost their mother, others their grandmother. A different set of cousins had lost their father, my favorite uncle. During Covid one of my cousin’s spouses passed from a rare form of cancer. Neighbors were there who had lost friends, family, or who were battling their own brave and courageous fight.
My hope is that in the very near future the cancers treated by the money we raise for the Pan Mass Challenge/ Dana Farber Cancer Research may save the life of someone you love. Know that 100% of every rider-raised dollar goes to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for cancer research and treatment. DCFI has been recognized as one of the top three cancer centers in the world.
On August 5th and 6th I will be riding from Wellesley, MA to Provincetown, MA (161 miles) with the eleven members of Team Dolben. It is their 31st year as a team, my 11th year as a team member. Our goal is to surpass last year’s team total of $160,000.
I’ve made a personal commitment to raise $6,000. I hope you can help me achieve this significant goal. I greatly appreciate every donation no matter how large or small.
I thank you with all of my heart for your support in funding life-saving cancer research and treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I will be thinking of you and all of your loved ones as I pedal the many miles of this year’s Pan Mass Challenge!
With love & gratitude,
Pam
PMC donations are tax deductible and 100% will go to Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
The PMC’s tax ID / EIN is 04-2746912
In just a few days, on August 6th & 7th, I am riding my 22nd consecutive Pan Mass Challenge bike ride! Per usual, I have been training like crazy but procrastinating on fundraising. Requesting donations from friends and family is always the most difficult part of the challenge for me! Though I deeply believe in the cause, I would rather bike 100 miles than ask for money. That being said,
I still ride every year in memory of my dear Bates College friend, Susan MacNeil Varney, who died of breast cancer just before we turned 40 years old. However, each year the list of people I ride in memory of or in tribute to, grows considerably. This year my sister-in-law Cathy’s loss to cancer weighs heavily on my mind.
My hope is that in the near future the cancer treated by the money we raise through the Pan Mass Challenge may save the life of someone you love. 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar goes to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. DCFI has been recognized as one of the top three cancer centers in the world. When you contribute to my ride, you are funding the leading edge of cancer treatment and cures!
This PMC weekend I will be riding from Wellesley, MA to Provincetown, MA (161miles) with Team Dolben, friends who I have met through the Pan Mass Challenge. It is their 30th year as a team & I am privileged to say my 10th year officially riding with them. Our goal is to raise over $160,000.
I’ve made a personal commitment to raise $6,000 with the goal of raising $9,000 . I hope you can help me achieve this significant goal.. I greatly appreciate every donation no matter how small!
Please donate to my PMC ride using this link:
I thank you with all my heart for your support in funding lifesaving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I will be thinking of all of you and your loved ones as I pedal all of those miles on my 22nd Pan Mass Challenge!.
With love,
P.S. If you are a procrastinator like me, donations for the 2022 PMC are accepted until October 30th, 2022!
Hello Friend!
In just a few days, on August 7th & 8th, I will ride my 21st consecutive Pan Mass Challenge!
Due to Covid, the ride will be different again this year. No big event in Bourne, MA at the end of Day1 and no Day2 finish in Provincetown with a ferry back to Boston Harbor.
Team Dolben will still be riding two days but in Mass and NH and Maine! It will still be an emotional and inspirational weekend. Most importantly, the cause remains the same - 100% of all monies raised go directly Dana Farber/ Jimmy Fund cancer research.
Please help me raise funds for this fight against cancer. I greatly appreciate every donation no matter how small!
If you would like to contribute, go to:
https:donate.pmc.org/PS0064 .
Thank you!
With love, Pam
2020
This year the annual group ride of the Pan Mass Challenge was been “Reimagined” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was my 20th Pan Mass Challenge ride and even though we couldn’t gather with the 7,000 others who typically ride together during the first weekend of August, I rode with my ten Team Dolben friends on August 1st & 2nd. Our rides were shorter, but still just as intense (50 miles from Plymouth, NH to Waterville Valley, NH and back on Saturday - up one long, 10 mile hill and then again down!) They were also filled with just as much camaraderie, joy and also sorrow as we all remembered the many people & reasons for our rides.
Cancer didn’t take a year off and neither did we.
…. which means I am still fundraising.
You can make your gift directly to my ride via the PMC website and this link:
If you would prefer to send me a check, please make it out to PMC/Jimmy Fund and send it to me at this address:
Pam Stearns
PO Box 106
22Lavengers Lane
New Castle, NH 03854
I thank you with all my heart for your support in funding lifesaving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and my 20th Pan Mass Challenge Ride.
Fondly,
Pam
Who puts the P in procrastination? Pam does! Again!
And, unfortunately, this year it is a capital P. Yes, with less than 2 weeks to go until the 2019 Pan Mass Challenge, I am finally sending out my yearly plea for sponsorship. That’s right, my 19th PMC ride is on Saturday, August 3rd and Sunday, August 4th; less than 10 days away. You would think that after 18 successful years of training, riding and soliciting donations for Dana Farber Cancer Research I would have this down pat. But the truth is I still dislike asking friends and family for money even if it is the most worthy cause. I believe in the Pan Mass Challenge! I love to train with my PMC buddies! I hate to ask for donations.
Please donate to my PMC ride using this link: http://profile.pmc.org/PS0064
Here are the statistics:
Date: Saturday, August 3rd- Sunday, August 4th
Ride: Wellesley to Bourne, MA - Bourne to Provincetown, MA (161 miles)
Team: Team Dolben, friends who I have met through the Pan Mass Challenge. It is their 28th year as a team & I am privileged to say my 4th year officially riding with them.
Commitment: $5,000
Goal: Heavy Hitter Status $7,800
Why I Ride: c For the countless friends, family, neighbors and acquaintances who are battling or have battled cancer.
100% of Every Rider-Raised Donation Donated to the Jimmy Fund.
The PMC has raised more than a half-billion dollars for adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber since 1980. In 2018, the PMC gave a record gift of $59 million. In 2019, the PMC aims to raise $60 million to support patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber.
I hope I can count on your continued support!
Please donate to my PMC ride using this link: http://profile.pmc.org/PS0064
If you prefer to write a check, please make it out to PMC, The Jimmy Fund or
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and mail it to me directly at:
Pamela Stearns
22 Lavenger's Lane PO Box 106
New Castle, NH 03854
Please ask your Human Resources department if they have a matching gift program and follow their process for a matching donation. Your donation is tax deductible and 100% will go to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. To learn more about the Pan-Mass Challenge, please visit www.pmc.org.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!…A million times over. I will be thinking of all of you and your loved ones as I ride those miles from Wellesley to Provincetown on Saturday, August 3rd and Sunday August 4th!
P a m
P.S. If you are a procrastinator like me, donations for the 2019 PMC are accepted until October 30th, 2019!
July 29, 2015
Hi!
This year marks my 15th Pan Mass Challenge Ride. As usual, I have been procrastinating on my appeal for donations. It is simply the hardest part of the challenge for me. I’d rather bike 100 miles than ask friends and family for $100 dollars.
Each year my good friend Mary Green sees my angst and procrastination and each year she tells me the same thing, “Recycle one of your old letters. We all know why you ride and what a great cause it is.”
Ironically enough, two days ago - 5 days before I ride my 15th Pan Mass ride on August 1st & 2nd - I found my original letter from 2001 while cleaning out my attic. So, here it is:
June 30, 2001
Hello Friends!
I am writing to ask for your assistance. The year 2001 has been a year of challenges, mental, physical, and emotional.
First, there have been the daily challenges of getting 3 kids to the right place at the right time with the appropriate attire; dressed and ready for school, to soccer, basketball, gymnastics,swim lessons, T-ball, baseball, anythingball; to dentist appointments, doctor appointments, Sunday School, choir ... How can we have such a busy schedule?
These challenges have been overcome with a lot of planning, organization, energy - and also caffeine. (Did I mention that we now have a 12 week old puppy?)
Then there was the mental challenge of turning 40.
OK, I faced it head on. How big a deal is it really? Just a few more wrinkles and gray hairs...
As of June 27, I can now say I have “ been there, done that” . It is conquered! I’m ready to move on. It really is mind over matter. (And it appears that, yes, there is more matter. It is around my mid-section and nicely complements those new wrinkles and gray hair!)
On a more serious note, there was an emotional challenge, the loss of a dear, dear, friend. The New Year had barely begun when we said a heart-wrenching goodbye to Susan MacNeil Varney, SueMac to her Bates friends. Her eleven-year battle against breast cancer ceased on January 10, 2001. Our Bates Dinner Club will be forever changed by her absence. The unfairness of her death strikes me every day.
As I do so often in stressful times, I find solace in physical challenges, usually in the form of running. Well, this old body does not appear to up to running any amount of distance anymore; I found a different avenue for my endorphin release, bicycling. Losing SueMac in January and watching my running partner, Liz Fregeau, battle breast cancer throughout the winter and spring months has provoked me to undertake the physical challenge of the Pan Mass Bike Challenge. The PMC is a two-day, 200 mile event starting in Sturbridge, MA on August 4th. Thus far, I have enjoyed burning up the roads of the NH Seacoast. I am overjoyed to report Liz and I have ridden many of those bike rides together.
This brings me to my greatest and most difficult challenge yet -- asking others for help. Even worse, asking others for money. Soliciting monetary donations from anyone, friend or stranger, has to be the thing I enjoy least in the world.
In order to participate in this year’s Pan Mass Challenge, I need to raise $3600. I am asking for your assistance. This is hard for me. I am a true NH Yankee; prideful, defiant, stubborn, independent. I prefer to rely on no one except myself. (My husband Guy will agree wholeheartedly.) Yet, I know I can not do this on my own. I need your help. Your donation of any amount will be greatly appreciated!
I lost a true friend to breast cancer this year. It was so unfair. I don’t want to lose anyone else to this horrid disease. Please help me fight this battle against cancer. Your donation to the Jimmy Fund/ Pan Mass Challenge will help fund the cost of cancer research. I need your help. We need your help. We can win this war!
Thank you and God Bless, Pam
______________________________________________________________________________________
July 18, 2014
Hello friends, family but most importantly, former PMC donors,
It is that time of year again! Time for my annual plea for Pan Mass Challenge donors! This year has seen its share of challenges, a torn hamstring (from stupidity) and a concussion (while skiing) to name a few, but my greatest challenge thus far has been my inability to write this letter. Yes, procrastination, my nasty enemy, has continually reared its ugly head and totally dominated me. Until today.
Today, only 14 days before the big PMC ride and on the most beautiful day of the summer (75 degrees, bluebird skies and zero humidity). Today I have sequestered myself in my house, locked the doors, sent Guy and the kids off to their jobs, put on my Pan Mass Challenge hat, t-shirt and socks, shut off my phone, turned on the Macbook and have told myself I can not leave this computer until this letter is completed and mailed to you.
The Pan Mass Challenge statistics are still the same:
The good news: Since last year’s PMC ride all friends and family “living with cancer” are still here!
The bad news: Since last year’s PMC ride I’ve added one more friend to the “living with cancer list”.
So, if you would like to help me out and once again generously donate to my Pan Mass Challenge ride here is the link: http://www2.pmc.org/profile/PS0064
If you would prefer to write a check, make it out to Pan Mass Challenge, add a few extra zeroes to the end of the number and mail it to me at PO Box 106, New Castle, NH 03854.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart. $6900 is a lot of money to raise but through friends like you I get there every year! Many thanks!
With love and appreciation,
PAM
_______________________________________________
July 2013
Hello Friends!
Summer is here and I have finally come out of my self-imposed, school-year hermitage. Having done so, I regularly run into friends I have not seen in a while. During our conversation they inevitably ask, “Are you riding the Pan Mass Challenge bike ride again this year?” and invariably, once this question is posed, it is followed by either “I haven’t received your letter yet” or “ I haven’t seen you out riding”.
Ouch. Yes! I am riding Pam Mass this year and no, I haven’t sent my letter out yet. This is my worst year for procrastination! Maybe it is because it is my lucky 13th year of riding. Well.... here it is, my annual plea for financial assistance, my fundraising letter for the 2013 Pan Mass Challenge.
I originally signed on to the Pan Mass Challenge to honor a dear college friend, Susan MacNeil Varney, who passed away from breast cancer thirteen years ago. Due to your phenomenal support, I’m proud to say I’ve raised over $100,000 in her memory and continue to support her, along with the many family and friends who have been added to the growing list of cancer patients. It is these people I think about as well as each of you, as I pedal those two hundred miles. Thank you again for your extraordinary help; without it, I would not be able to participate in this fantastic event!
Love, PAM
_____________________________________________________________
The 12 Ps of Pam’s 2012 Pan Mass Challenge Ride July 2012
192 miles on August 4th and 5th participating in her 12th year of riding with passion and purpose.
Privileged to be able to ride in honor of friends, colleagues and family members who are currently battling cancer with their own sense of bravery, perseverance and power. Holding them in prayer as she rides along with the memory of the many other friends and family who lost their lives to cancer.
Pushing on for this year’s Seacoast Young Team Pedal Partner, a pediatric oncology patient who is a 4th grader at New Franklin School in Portsmouth, NH.
Embracing the passion of the PMC volunteers and riders who annually pursue a great way of celebrating life: Helping others extend their lives by funding lifesaving research through PMC donations to the Jimmy Fund at Dana Farber Hospital.
Photos and videos like these which inspire her to ride!
http://www.pmc.org/articles.asp?ArticleID=926
http://www.pmc.org/articles.asp?ArticleID=1588
Procrastinating once again on her fundraising efforts because she dislikes asking people for money.
Panicked that she is nearly out of time to fundraise the $6,500 needed for this year’s Pan Mass Challenge Bike Ride! Yikes! Time to start fundraising! If you would like to sponsor Pam you can click on this link: http://www.pmc.org/profile/PS0064 or mail a check made out to Pan Mass Challenge to her home address:
Pam Stearns
PO Box 106
New Castle, NH 03854
Thankful for the phenomenal support from all of you who have funded her ride the past 11 years and continue to support her this present 12th year!
Love, PAM
______________________________________________________________
Why I Ride ... 2010
On Tuesday July 6th, I brought a dear friend to her fourth and final chemotherapy treatment at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. It was a day that flooded my brain with images and thoughts and triggered many emotions within my soul.
I could tell you-
• That it was very surreal knowing that I was brining a vibrant, healthy friend into the hospital and I would be bringing her home filled with toxic, life altering chemicals.
• That the first people we met on the elevator commented on how beautiful she looked with her bald head and they wished they had the courage she has.
• That for eight-millionth time I thought of how unfair is was to her that she was going through breast cancer treatment for a second time ? this second cancer detected almost exactly ten years from the first.
• That her courage that day made it extremely difficult for me not to cry ?even when she did - but I had promised her I would not cry.
• That every nurse, technician, and staff member we encountered at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute ? right down to the lending librarian and valet attendant -was so positive, friendly and helpful.
• That I was inspired and uplifted (and filled with tears but I held them back) when I looked out the waiting room window and saw the steel beams of the new Yawkey Center Building scrawled with the spray-painted names of children cancer patients.http://www.boston.com/video/viral_page/?/services/player/bcpid1185143625&bctid=13796845001
• That there were over 30 “chairs” on the 10th floor alone where outpatients received chemotherapy treatments. Each one of those chairs changed occupants at least one time, sometimes two or even three times, during our four and a half hour stay on that floor.
• That the occupant of each of those chairs reminded me in some way of a friend, brother, aunt, uncle, neighbor, parent of a student, grandparent, local coach, mom of a friend, training partner, father or spouse. It was difficult not to think that each one of those patients could be someone I know.
• That I was somewhat relieved that we were on a floor of adult patients. I know I would not have been able to hold back the tears if I saw the children on the pediatric floor.
But instead I will just tell you that I am so happy that the two of us will again be riding the Pan Mass Challenge on August 7th and 8th this year.
Thank you for your support!
With Love, Pam
PS I know that last year Guy and I wrote and told you that the 2009 Pan Mass Challenge would be our last ride. When the January 2010 registration date rolled around, I found it hard to say no to the lure of the PMC. After a lot of contemplation, I decided to ride again but this year independent of the Seacoast Young Team, my team for the last 9 years. Instead I decided to change things up and join my friend Liz, who rides a different first day course. Funny how things always seem to happen for a reason…
This past Sunday was my Mom’s 84th birthday. In the midst of all of the celebration, it hit me like a bolt of lightning how lucky I am. There I was sitting in my front yard, enjoying a NH lobster bake courtesy of my little brother Matt, a local lobsterman, surrounded by friends and multiple generations of family. I looked around. Celebrating alongside my mom was my Dad, 86 years old, diagnosed with cancer 30 1/2 years ago when our first child Emily was 6 months old. My two parents together; happy and healthy. Thank god for the advances to cancer research.
I can’t imagine how different my life would have been if my Dad had not survived his cancer diagnosis. How different it would have been for my husband Guy to not have one of his biggest supporters. How different my children’s lives would have been without a grandfather who I lived around the corner and was an active part of their lives every single day.
Others at the party had not been so fortunate. My brother had lost his wife to breast cancer just 18 months earlier. Cousins had lost their mother, others their grandmother. A different set of cousins had lost their father, my favorite uncle. During Covid one of my cousin’s spouses passed from a rare form of cancer. Neighbors were there who had lost friends, family, or who were battling their own brave and courageous fight.
My hope is that in the very near future the cancers treated by the money we raise for the Pan Mass Challenge/ Dana Farber Cancer Research may save the life of someone you love. Know that 100% of every rider-raised dollar goes to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for cancer research and treatment. DCFI has been recognized as one of the top three cancer centers in the world.
On August 5th and 6th I will be riding from Wellesley, MA to Provincetown, MA (161 miles) with the eleven members of Team Dolben. It is their 31st year as a team, my 11th year as a team member. Our goal is to surpass last year’s team total of $160,000.
I’ve made a personal commitment to raise $6,000. I hope you can help me achieve this significant goal. I greatly appreciate every donation no matter how large or small.
I thank you with all of my heart for your support in funding life-saving cancer research and treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I will be thinking of you and all of your loved ones as I pedal the many miles of this year’s Pan Mass Challenge!
With love & gratitude,
Pam
PMC donations are tax deductible and 100% will go to Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
The PMC’s tax ID / EIN is 04-2746912
In just a few days, on August 6th & 7th, I am riding my 22nd consecutive Pan Mass Challenge bike ride! Per usual, I have been training like crazy but procrastinating on fundraising. Requesting donations from friends and family is always the most difficult part of the challenge for me! Though I deeply believe in the cause, I would rather bike 100 miles than ask for money. That being said,
I still ride every year in memory of my dear Bates College friend, Susan MacNeil Varney, who died of breast cancer just before we turned 40 years old. However, each year the list of people I ride in memory of or in tribute to, grows considerably. This year my sister-in-law Cathy’s loss to cancer weighs heavily on my mind.
My hope is that in the near future the cancer treated by the money we raise through the Pan Mass Challenge may save the life of someone you love. 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar goes to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. DCFI has been recognized as one of the top three cancer centers in the world. When you contribute to my ride, you are funding the leading edge of cancer treatment and cures!
This PMC weekend I will be riding from Wellesley, MA to Provincetown, MA (161miles) with Team Dolben, friends who I have met through the Pan Mass Challenge. It is their 30th year as a team & I am privileged to say my 10th year officially riding with them. Our goal is to raise over $160,000.
I’ve made a personal commitment to raise $6,000 with the goal of raising $9,000 . I hope you can help me achieve this significant goal.. I greatly appreciate every donation no matter how small!
Please donate to my PMC ride using this link:
I thank you with all my heart for your support in funding lifesaving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I will be thinking of all of you and your loved ones as I pedal all of those miles on my 22nd Pan Mass Challenge!.
With love,
P.S. If you are a procrastinator like me, donations for the 2022 PMC are accepted until October 30th, 2022!
Hello Friend!
In just a few days, on August 7th & 8th, I will ride my 21st consecutive Pan Mass Challenge!
Due to Covid, the ride will be different again this year. No big event in Bourne, MA at the end of Day1 and no Day2 finish in Provincetown with a ferry back to Boston Harbor.
Team Dolben will still be riding two days but in Mass and NH and Maine! It will still be an emotional and inspirational weekend. Most importantly, the cause remains the same - 100% of all monies raised go directly Dana Farber/ Jimmy Fund cancer research.
Please help me raise funds for this fight against cancer. I greatly appreciate every donation no matter how small!
If you would like to contribute, go to:
https:donate.pmc.org/PS0064 .
Thank you!
With love, Pam
2020
This year the annual group ride of the Pan Mass Challenge was been “Reimagined” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was my 20th Pan Mass Challenge ride and even though we couldn’t gather with the 7,000 others who typically ride together during the first weekend of August, I rode with my ten Team Dolben friends on August 1st & 2nd. Our rides were shorter, but still just as intense (50 miles from Plymouth, NH to Waterville Valley, NH and back on Saturday - up one long, 10 mile hill and then again down!) They were also filled with just as much camaraderie, joy and also sorrow as we all remembered the many people & reasons for our rides.
Cancer didn’t take a year off and neither did we.
…. which means I am still fundraising.
You can make your gift directly to my ride via the PMC website and this link:
If you would prefer to send me a check, please make it out to PMC/Jimmy Fund and send it to me at this address:
Pam Stearns
PO Box 106
22Lavengers Lane
New Castle, NH 03854
I thank you with all my heart for your support in funding lifesaving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and my 20th Pan Mass Challenge Ride.
Fondly,
Pam
Who puts the P in procrastination? Pam does! Again!
And, unfortunately, this year it is a capital P. Yes, with less than 2 weeks to go until the 2019 Pan Mass Challenge, I am finally sending out my yearly plea for sponsorship. That’s right, my 19th PMC ride is on Saturday, August 3rd and Sunday, August 4th; less than 10 days away. You would think that after 18 successful years of training, riding and soliciting donations for Dana Farber Cancer Research I would have this down pat. But the truth is I still dislike asking friends and family for money even if it is the most worthy cause. I believe in the Pan Mass Challenge! I love to train with my PMC buddies! I hate to ask for donations.
Please donate to my PMC ride using this link: http://profile.pmc.org/PS0064
Here are the statistics:
Date: Saturday, August 3rd- Sunday, August 4th
Ride: Wellesley to Bourne, MA - Bourne to Provincetown, MA (161 miles)
Team: Team Dolben, friends who I have met through the Pan Mass Challenge. It is their 28th year as a team & I am privileged to say my 4th year officially riding with them.
Commitment: $5,000
Goal: Heavy Hitter Status $7,800
Why I Ride: c For the countless friends, family, neighbors and acquaintances who are battling or have battled cancer.
100% of Every Rider-Raised Donation Donated to the Jimmy Fund.
The PMC has raised more than a half-billion dollars for adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber since 1980. In 2018, the PMC gave a record gift of $59 million. In 2019, the PMC aims to raise $60 million to support patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber.
I hope I can count on your continued support!
Please donate to my PMC ride using this link: http://profile.pmc.org/PS0064
If you prefer to write a check, please make it out to PMC, The Jimmy Fund or
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and mail it to me directly at:
Pamela Stearns
22 Lavenger's Lane PO Box 106
New Castle, NH 03854
Please ask your Human Resources department if they have a matching gift program and follow their process for a matching donation. Your donation is tax deductible and 100% will go to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. To learn more about the Pan-Mass Challenge, please visit www.pmc.org.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!…A million times over. I will be thinking of all of you and your loved ones as I ride those miles from Wellesley to Provincetown on Saturday, August 3rd and Sunday August 4th!
P a m
P.S. If you are a procrastinator like me, donations for the 2019 PMC are accepted until October 30th, 2019!
July 29, 2015
Hi!
This year marks my 15th Pan Mass Challenge Ride. As usual, I have been procrastinating on my appeal for donations. It is simply the hardest part of the challenge for me. I’d rather bike 100 miles than ask friends and family for $100 dollars.
Each year my good friend Mary Green sees my angst and procrastination and each year she tells me the same thing, “Recycle one of your old letters. We all know why you ride and what a great cause it is.”
Ironically enough, two days ago - 5 days before I ride my 15th Pan Mass ride on August 1st & 2nd - I found my original letter from 2001 while cleaning out my attic. So, here it is:
June 30, 2001
Hello Friends!
I am writing to ask for your assistance. The year 2001 has been a year of challenges, mental, physical, and emotional.
First, there have been the daily challenges of getting 3 kids to the right place at the right time with the appropriate attire; dressed and ready for school, to soccer, basketball, gymnastics,swim lessons, T-ball, baseball, anythingball; to dentist appointments, doctor appointments, Sunday School, choir ... How can we have such a busy schedule?
These challenges have been overcome with a lot of planning, organization, energy - and also caffeine. (Did I mention that we now have a 12 week old puppy?)
Then there was the mental challenge of turning 40.
OK, I faced it head on. How big a deal is it really? Just a few more wrinkles and gray hairs...
As of June 27, I can now say I have “ been there, done that” . It is conquered! I’m ready to move on. It really is mind over matter. (And it appears that, yes, there is more matter. It is around my mid-section and nicely complements those new wrinkles and gray hair!)
On a more serious note, there was an emotional challenge, the loss of a dear, dear, friend. The New Year had barely begun when we said a heart-wrenching goodbye to Susan MacNeil Varney, SueMac to her Bates friends. Her eleven-year battle against breast cancer ceased on January 10, 2001. Our Bates Dinner Club will be forever changed by her absence. The unfairness of her death strikes me every day.
As I do so often in stressful times, I find solace in physical challenges, usually in the form of running. Well, this old body does not appear to up to running any amount of distance anymore; I found a different avenue for my endorphin release, bicycling. Losing SueMac in January and watching my running partner, Liz Fregeau, battle breast cancer throughout the winter and spring months has provoked me to undertake the physical challenge of the Pan Mass Bike Challenge. The PMC is a two-day, 200 mile event starting in Sturbridge, MA on August 4th. Thus far, I have enjoyed burning up the roads of the NH Seacoast. I am overjoyed to report Liz and I have ridden many of those bike rides together.
This brings me to my greatest and most difficult challenge yet -- asking others for help. Even worse, asking others for money. Soliciting monetary donations from anyone, friend or stranger, has to be the thing I enjoy least in the world.
In order to participate in this year’s Pan Mass Challenge, I need to raise $3600. I am asking for your assistance. This is hard for me. I am a true NH Yankee; prideful, defiant, stubborn, independent. I prefer to rely on no one except myself. (My husband Guy will agree wholeheartedly.) Yet, I know I can not do this on my own. I need your help. Your donation of any amount will be greatly appreciated!
I lost a true friend to breast cancer this year. It was so unfair. I don’t want to lose anyone else to this horrid disease. Please help me fight this battle against cancer. Your donation to the Jimmy Fund/ Pan Mass Challenge will help fund the cost of cancer research. I need your help. We need your help. We can win this war!
Thank you and God Bless, Pam
______________________________________________________________________________________
July 18, 2014
Hello friends, family but most importantly, former PMC donors,
It is that time of year again! Time for my annual plea for Pan Mass Challenge donors! This year has seen its share of challenges, a torn hamstring (from stupidity) and a concussion (while skiing) to name a few, but my greatest challenge thus far has been my inability to write this letter. Yes, procrastination, my nasty enemy, has continually reared its ugly head and totally dominated me. Until today.
Today, only 14 days before the big PMC ride and on the most beautiful day of the summer (75 degrees, bluebird skies and zero humidity). Today I have sequestered myself in my house, locked the doors, sent Guy and the kids off to their jobs, put on my Pan Mass Challenge hat, t-shirt and socks, shut off my phone, turned on the Macbook and have told myself I can not leave this computer until this letter is completed and mailed to you.
The Pan Mass Challenge statistics are still the same:
The good news: Since last year’s PMC ride all friends and family “living with cancer” are still here!
The bad news: Since last year’s PMC ride I’ve added one more friend to the “living with cancer list”.
So, if you would like to help me out and once again generously donate to my Pan Mass Challenge ride here is the link: http://www2.pmc.org/profile/PS0064
If you would prefer to write a check, make it out to Pan Mass Challenge, add a few extra zeroes to the end of the number and mail it to me at PO Box 106, New Castle, NH 03854.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart. $6900 is a lot of money to raise but through friends like you I get there every year! Many thanks!
With love and appreciation,
PAM
_______________________________________________
July 2013
Hello Friends!
Summer is here and I have finally come out of my self-imposed, school-year hermitage. Having done so, I regularly run into friends I have not seen in a while. During our conversation they inevitably ask, “Are you riding the Pan Mass Challenge bike ride again this year?” and invariably, once this question is posed, it is followed by either “I haven’t received your letter yet” or “ I haven’t seen you out riding”.
Ouch. Yes! I am riding Pam Mass this year and no, I haven’t sent my letter out yet. This is my worst year for procrastination! Maybe it is because it is my lucky 13th year of riding. Well.... here it is, my annual plea for financial assistance, my fundraising letter for the 2013 Pan Mass Challenge.
I originally signed on to the Pan Mass Challenge to honor a dear college friend, Susan MacNeil Varney, who passed away from breast cancer thirteen years ago. Due to your phenomenal support, I’m proud to say I’ve raised over $100,000 in her memory and continue to support her, along with the many family and friends who have been added to the growing list of cancer patients. It is these people I think about as well as each of you, as I pedal those two hundred miles. Thank you again for your extraordinary help; without it, I would not be able to participate in this fantastic event!
Love, PAM
_____________________________________________________________
The 12 Ps of Pam’s 2012 Pan Mass Challenge Ride July 2012
192 miles on August 4th and 5th participating in her 12th year of riding with passion and purpose.
Privileged to be able to ride in honor of friends, colleagues and family members who are currently battling cancer with their own sense of bravery, perseverance and power. Holding them in prayer as she rides along with the memory of the many other friends and family who lost their lives to cancer.
Pushing on for this year’s Seacoast Young Team Pedal Partner, a pediatric oncology patient who is a 4th grader at New Franklin School in Portsmouth, NH.
Embracing the passion of the PMC volunteers and riders who annually pursue a great way of celebrating life: Helping others extend their lives by funding lifesaving research through PMC donations to the Jimmy Fund at Dana Farber Hospital.
Photos and videos like these which inspire her to ride!
http://www.pmc.org/articles.asp?ArticleID=926
http://www.pmc.org/articles.asp?ArticleID=1588
Procrastinating once again on her fundraising efforts because she dislikes asking people for money.
Panicked that she is nearly out of time to fundraise the $6,500 needed for this year’s Pan Mass Challenge Bike Ride! Yikes! Time to start fundraising! If you would like to sponsor Pam you can click on this link: http://www.pmc.org/profile/PS0064 or mail a check made out to Pan Mass Challenge to her home address:
Pam Stearns
PO Box 106
New Castle, NH 03854
Thankful for the phenomenal support from all of you who have funded her ride the past 11 years and continue to support her this present 12th year!
Love, PAM
______________________________________________________________
Why I Ride ... 2010
On Tuesday July 6th, I brought a dear friend to her fourth and final chemotherapy treatment at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. It was a day that flooded my brain with images and thoughts and triggered many emotions within my soul.
I could tell you-
• That it was very surreal knowing that I was brining a vibrant, healthy friend into the hospital and I would be bringing her home filled with toxic, life altering chemicals.
• That the first people we met on the elevator commented on how beautiful she looked with her bald head and they wished they had the courage she has.
• That for eight-millionth time I thought of how unfair is was to her that she was going through breast cancer treatment for a second time ? this second cancer detected almost exactly ten years from the first.
• That her courage that day made it extremely difficult for me not to cry ?even when she did - but I had promised her I would not cry.
• That every nurse, technician, and staff member we encountered at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute ? right down to the lending librarian and valet attendant -was so positive, friendly and helpful.
• That I was inspired and uplifted (and filled with tears but I held them back) when I looked out the waiting room window and saw the steel beams of the new Yawkey Center Building scrawled with the spray-painted names of children cancer patients.http://www.boston.com/video/viral_page/?/services/player/bcpid1185143625&bctid=13796845001
• That there were over 30 “chairs” on the 10th floor alone where outpatients received chemotherapy treatments. Each one of those chairs changed occupants at least one time, sometimes two or even three times, during our four and a half hour stay on that floor.
• That the occupant of each of those chairs reminded me in some way of a friend, brother, aunt, uncle, neighbor, parent of a student, grandparent, local coach, mom of a friend, training partner, father or spouse. It was difficult not to think that each one of those patients could be someone I know.
• That I was somewhat relieved that we were on a floor of adult patients. I know I would not have been able to hold back the tears if I saw the children on the pediatric floor.
But instead I will just tell you that I am so happy that the two of us will again be riding the Pan Mass Challenge on August 7th and 8th this year.
Thank you for your support!
With Love, Pam
PS I know that last year Guy and I wrote and told you that the 2009 Pan Mass Challenge would be our last ride. When the January 2010 registration date rolled around, I found it hard to say no to the lure of the PMC. After a lot of contemplation, I decided to ride again but this year independent of the Seacoast Young Team, my team for the last 9 years. Instead I decided to change things up and join my friend Liz, who rides a different first day course. Funny how things always seem to happen for a reason…
I have chosen to keep all of my donors' information confidential; therefore it is not displayed on my PMC public donor list.
| 2025 | $0.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2024 | $10,000.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2023 | $10,150.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2022 | $9,775.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2021 | $6,500.00 | Wellesley to Bourne (1-Day, Sat) |
| 2020 | $5,125.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2019 | $8,725.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2018 | $8,400.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2017 | $7,825.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2016 | $9,405.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2015 | $7,370.56 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2014 | $7,088.48 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2013 | $6,823.00 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2012 | $7,943.00 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2011 | $6,546.00 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2010 | $6,950.00 | Wellesley to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2009 | $6,615.00 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2008 | $7,802.50 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2007 | $7,881.11 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2006 | $11,231.32 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2005 | $6,155.00 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2004 | $11,364.83 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2003 | $12,531.52 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2002 | $10,696.70 | Sturbridge to Provincetown Inn (2-Day) |
| 2001 | $11,879.42 | Sturbridge to Wellesley (2-Day) |
