A little bit harder and a little bit more, a little bit further than you gone before…
This will be my eighth year riding. I decided to ride again halfway through last year's ride. Each time is different but the cause is the same: support Cancer Research and Treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. It’s where my friends and relatives have been cared for, and where breakthrough treatments have been developed. Like last year, this will be a two-day route from Wellesley to Provincetown on the first weekend in August, more than 160 miles. My team, FLAMES, already has over a hundred and forty members for this year. They share my focus on lymphoma and other blood cancers. You can read about them at https://profile.pmc.org/tf0063. They are, of course, not the only resource I count on. There’s Phyllis, my kids, my extended family, especially my brother Bart, who lost his wife, Grace-Marie to cancer and all of you.
Most of the reasons I do this are constant. I lost a brother when I was seven and then my mother eight years later, both from cancers that are treatable now. This ride offers a community that understands. The PMC is a shared experience of grief and of hope; some riders are survivors, what the PMC calls ‘living proof.’ These are amazing people: organizers, thousands of volunteers, six thousand riders, and most importantly, the network of supporters who contribute. But this year, there is another urgent reason. The threat to health research is real, and funding provided by PMC may protect the outcome of research that has taken years to carry out at Dana Farber.
Aside from my gratitude, donors get my yearly ride review, which I love writing.
One more note: my goal is raising ten thousand dollars. You can donate on the PMC site in a variety of ways, including Venmo and DAF’s. You can look for my Facebook fundraiser, but make sure it is connected to my I.D. Most companies include the PMC for matching donations. You can even send a check. And everything (yes, 100%) you donate goes directly to Dana Farber. -Ron
Every time that Wheel turns round, bound to cover just a little more ground- Jerry Garcia
