Hello Friends and Family,

23 years! I can't beleive it!!!!

A few years ago we got lucky enough to be one of the families the PMC focused on. We were interviewed by Lisa Hughes of CBS Channel 4 in Boston. It was pretty fun. And the write up will give you a pretty good idea why we ride. Check it out at:

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/07/31/pan-mass-challenge-pmc-team-lick-scott-natalie-bishop-dana-farber-cancer-institute/

This year both my daughters, Jessica (http://www2.pmc.org/profile/JB0626) and Natalie (http://www2.pmc.org/profile/NB0096), have decided to ride again. So I've decided I better get fundraising early. :-)

Last year our financial goal was $18,000. Your response was unbelievable AGAIN. We ended up raising a total of just under $19,000 combined. Thank you all so much.

This year my goal is 10,000! The PMC increased our minimum requirement per person to $6,000. Seems a bit daunting, especially for the girls. I'm trying to help Jessica and Natalie with a big fundraising year so I can take some pressure off them. Please help us get there! It's for a great cause. It's now officially a family affair. So why not. :-)

The mission of the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) is to raise money for the Jimmy Fund of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. PMC has become the largest weekend fundraising event in the country. A bike-a-thon that crosses the state of Massachusetts, the event began in 1980 as a group of 36 friends -- and now involves a cast of thousands of cyclists, volunteers, corporate sponsors and individual donors.

The special commitment and individual stories of those who participate in the PMC weekend has made the PMC what it is today.

This year will be the 23rd year that I've caught the bug and I am still very much inspired by the event and the cause.Here's the story of why I ride (you can go to Jessica's profile to learn why she's riding - http://www2.pmc.org/profile/JB0626 or Natalie profile to learn why she's riding http://profile.pmc.org/NB0096).

Along with all cancer sufferers and survivors, I ride for my Uncle George and the George H. Baker Nursing Scholarship Fund.

George was a wonderful man who had the uncanny ability to find something funny in even the worst of situations. His wife, children, family, and patients were the most important things in his life. I will always remember George for the way he made me feel so important as a young boy/man and how he always knew how to bring a smile to even the saddest face.

The George H. Baker Nursing Scholarship is given to a needy nursing student working his/her way up through Rhode Island Hospital, who has demonstrated a will and desire to join the nursing profession for the noble and grand intent of helping their fellow human beings.
But rather than me continuing to blabber on, the best way to learn about George and the Nursing Scholarship fund is from the article below which was taken from the Rhode Island Hospital 2001 Annual Report.

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Jason and George Baker

In 1958, 18-year-old George Baker reported to work at Rhode Island Hospital for his new job as an orderly. Before long he fell in love with the nursing profession and by 1963 he had graduated from the hospital's nursing school,becoming a staff nurse. Eventually, he rose to assistant nurse leader and then clinical nurse leader. In 1973 Baker met his future wife Jackie through the Rhode Island Hospital Bowling League. On September 30, 2000, after 30 years of caring for patients at Rhode Island Hospital, George Baker succumbed to cancer.

George spent his entire career at Rhode Island Hospital and we wanted to keep his spirit and memory alive, said Jackie Baker, a registered medical technologist in the hospital's microbiology lab since 1972. Because of his own experience, he was a great proponent for nursing education. At Rhode Island Hospital, the motto is 'patients first.' George always believed in this from his first day on the floors.

Obviously, George Baker's love for his profession rubbed off on his children. Jason and Leah Baker are in nursing school and each works as a unit assistant at Rhode Island Hospital. To honor their father, the Baker family established the George H. Baker Nursing Scholarship in October 2000.
The scholarship will be awarded annually to a student nurse who is working his/her way up through the hospital and exemplifies the qualities that made George Baker special. The first scholarship was awarded in 2001.

Because of George's devotion to the profession of nursing and to education, the scholarship was begun as a tribute to him and a way for us to honor his memory, says the Baker family. We think that George would be proud to have his name associated with the scholarship, what it stands for and who it helps.

Since writing this about George before my first PMC back in 2002, I have another reason for participating in this ride: my father is now a cancer survivor. So I know how this ride and the money it raises, helps this cause and the people it touches.

How You Can Help

If you are interested in helping us out, please shoot me an e-mail at seugeneb@comcast.net with a pledge amount for me completing the Pan Mass Challenge. I'll contact you further.

We are obligated to raise a certain pretty significant minimum amount of money as a participant in the Pan Mass Challenge. Any money that we raise above and beyond the minimum, a portion will go to the Jimmy Fund Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a portion will go to the George H. Baker Nursing Scholarship Fund.

If you'd like to donate now to the PMC only, then simply go to the following site (http://www2.pmc.org/profile/SB0122) and click the Donate To My Ride button.

If you'd like to wait and donate to both causes, after the ride weekend I'll contact you and ask you to send your donation check. You may either make the check out to me and let me know how you'd prefer to have the money split between the two charities, you may make the check out to me and let me split it between the two charities at my discretion, or you may send me one check made out to either charity of your choice, or two checks with your preferred donation made out to each charity. Ah, the choices! If you are looking for a preference, I'd prefer that you send the checks to me and allow me to split it between the two charities.

If you'd prefer to send checks before the event, that would be fine as well. For those of you who fall into the send early camp please send the checks to:

Scott Bishop
4 LaSallette Road
Westford, MA 01886

Home (978) 692-9811
Mobile (978) 490-6650

I hope you will support the Jimmy Fund, the George H. Baker Nursing Scholarship Fund, and Jessica and I in this endeavor and we look forward to your support.

THIS WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU!!!!

Thanks!

Regards,

Scott