Hello and thank you for visiting my PMC Fundraising page.

I would like to begin this letter with a heartfelt and emotionally charged THANK YOU to everyone who has so generously donated to the PMC and supported Dana Farber's efforts against cancer AND thank you in advance for considering donating to my 10th ride this August. This year Matt and I will be riding the full route with our amazing team once again.

I will again be riding for those we have lost, including my Mother-in-law, our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, co-workers, and friends. Of course, we ride for all of those loved ones that our friends and family members have lost as well! I am also riding in honor of friends and family who have received recent diagnoses or are currently in treatment.

Our pedal partner this year is a brave 8 year old boy named Declan, who continues to fight a rare form of brain cancer. 5 years ago in May, when he was diagnosed at 3 years old, there was NO protocol for his tumor and after 24 rounds of monthly chemo, there was no change to his tumor size or growth rate. After 2 intensive brain surgeries, his seizures are few and far between, but the trauma of what he has been through physically and emotionally, as well as the medications he must take, impact his daily life and his ability to thrive. His team of researchers are in a race for his life, and that is why funding for this level of research is so critical right now.

With rare cancers, funding for research is limited. What’s more, pediatric cancer in general is severely underfunded, with kids getting less than 4% of the allotted amount of government money for cancer research. This year, I am again choosing to earmark 100% of the money I raise toward this research. Because of the lack of funding for research & treatments of rare cancers, there’s an expedited FDA approval process for getting treatments from the lab to the patient. Once FDA is approved for a rare cancer, it can be used for other cancers. AND because of their relative uniqueness, rare cancers provide a particularly powerful lens into the very foundations of cancer— bringing meaningful insights to the study of all types of human cancer. So, these restricted funds serve all cancer patients in an incredibly powerful way.

I've made a personal commitment to raise $6,000 and I hope you can help me reach this important goal. I appreciate that inflation and economic uncertainty has impacted everyone differently. If you can give, please do so. If you cannot this year, I understand. And if you have the capacity to give a little more than you might normally, your generosity will make a tremendous difference this year.

100% of every dollar donated supports Dana-Farber’s world-class research and care.

Please help me reach this goal by giving whatever donation you can. (Please also remember that many companies have corporate matching programs.)

Almost everyone has been touched in some way by this disease. With your help, I look forward to contributing to our shared dream to end cancer. Loved ones we have lost, especially Wendy Denneen, Charlie Sabens, Tom and Joan Sullivan, Jimmie Cooper, Mike Denneen, Joan King, Arabella Green, Carol Downer, Jana Steruska-Slezak, Darwin White, Cecilia Dorley, Dave Bendroth, Norma McGarr, Don Osborne, Don Dix, Scott Richert, Bailey Culver, Joan Alcarez DeAmicis, Jeff Martinez, Tammy Paul, Tyler Kott, Susan Novotny, Allison Yeagle, Todd Spelman, Evan Austin. They were all true inspirations.... we miss them, but we're so thankful for the memories.

If you would like to dedicate your donation in memory of someone who has lost their fight or is now in the fight of their life, please include their name and I will be sure to carry them in my heart out on the road.

Thank you in advance for your support,

Tamara

How to make your tax-deductible donation:

1) The easiest way: On line - Click on Donate to My Ride

http://profile.pmc.org/TD0153

OR

2) Check payable to: The Jimmy Fund or PMC. Addressed to me at 18 Glendale Road, Rye, NH 03870. My ID: TD0153