WHY WE RIDE…
Hello Family, Friends and Colleagues,
Fourteen years ago, I volunteered to ride in the 200-mile Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) charity bicycle ride for the first time. My motivation was simple: Cancer had impacted our family once too often and I had to act. In 2017, our son Jack felt the same pull and joined me in the Challenge. We ride not just because we love to ride, but in memory of those who cannot.
The power of giving back cannot be overstated. For Jack and me, spending time training, fundraising, and enriching our community has broadened our perspectives of the world. By focusing on eradicating cancer with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and immersing ourselves in a community that is dedicated to bettering the world, we gain a tremendous sense of purpose.
We have discovered that becoming part of the PMC had very little to do with us. The world’s strongest, most powerful brands and organizations are ones that are purpose-driven—they are on a mission to create change and improve lives. They often feel more like movements. The PMC is not just thousands of people moving on bikes. It is hundreds of thousands of people helping to rid the world of “The C Word.”
From day one, we have felt part of something much bigger than riding a bike—father and son clad in Lycra focused on helping to eradicate the devastation of cancer. As the years go on, no doubt it is certainly a bit more challenging. The training, the miles, time away from family, the weather and the fundraising are all hard. For me, the hills are brutal, and 200 miles on a bicycle over 2-days is not for the faint of heart rider. Yet every single year as Jack and I take off from the starting line, the aches and pains fade into the background very quickly. When you see children with cancer cheering you on throughout the route, it changes you. It’s impossible not to be motivated when you know that the thousands of riders and volunteers are helping the team at Dana-Farber get closer to a cure that will help others have a better chance at living a full life.
This year we have each committed to raising the $6,800 minimum for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and we would be honored to have your generous support to help us meet these goals. We will be doing our part as well, and after thousands of miles of training through hills, flats, wind, rain, heat—you name it, we will be ready. At 6 am on August 6th we will depart from Sturbridge, MA, and pedal the first 100 miles across Massachusetts to Bourne. We will overnight at the Mass Maritime Academy and depart at a cheery 4 am on the 7th, cross the Cape Cod Canal and finish in Provincetown, Cape Cod.
I know this particularly is a time when so many of us are looking to make a positive impact on the world. I feel it every single day. Jack and I both hope you will help us make a difference in fighting cancer, funding research, and paying it forward. Cancer never quits and neither will we. We are honored to help deliver the cure for cancer one mile at a time.
Thank you for your generosity and support.
Warm regards,
Todd & Jack
