Pan-Mass Challenge

OK -- shameless plug.

Once again, my brother is participating in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike ride across my home state of Massachusetts, to raise money for cancer research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Dana Farber is making an especially big push for genetic-based cancer research, sequencing the genes of cancer patients to see where things are going wrong, and how those problems lead to cancer. A good chunk of the money raised by the PMC goes specifically to blood cancer research. 

One of Dana Farber's programs is called The Center for the Prevention of Progression of Blood Cancers. It looks at blood cancers that begin as "precursor conditions" that then turn into cancer. It also looks at asymptomatic indolent blood cancers that might progress, or might stay indolent, or might transform. Sound familiar? Of course it does. So some of the money raised by the PMC goes directly to research on Follicular Lymphoma.

So my shameless plug isn't really about my brother -- it's about all of us.

The Pan-Mass Challenge has raised about a half billion dollars over 36 years. This will be my brother's 9th year riding. he has personally raised over $50,000 for the cause. I'm extremely proud and grateful to him.

If you are considering donating money to cancer research, please consider donating to my brother's ride. His appeal message is below, along with a link to his fundraising page. Every little bit helps.

Thanks for considering it.

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This year on August  6th , I will ride for  my 9th year in the Pan Mass Challenge to raise research funds for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

As many of you may know from sponsoring me in the past, this cause is especially personal to me as I have had several immediate family members and close friends that have been diagnosed and treated successfully for many different types of cancers.  This year, I'm  riding in support of my brother, and several other close friends and colleagues that are in various stages of cancer treatment.  All are either patients at the DFCI, or beneficiaries of their ongoing research. 

Since 1980, the PMC has raised over  $350 million for cancer research and treatment at Dana Farber. The majority of this impressive total is considered unrestricted support -- critical, flexible funding that can be directed where and when it is needed most. As the PMC generates nearly half of the Jimmy Fund's annual revenue, every rider supports the efforts of more than 3,000 DFCI faculty and staff members as they make countless advances that have become the standard of cancer care and research.

I’m asking you to join me in the fight against cancer by sponsoring me in my ride with the 2016 Pan Mass Challenge.  The doctors and researchers at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston are making tremendous progress in finding a cure for this terrible disease, but we need to continue to fund the fight and bring this to an end.

The easiest way to donate is to give on-line.  The PMC site is a secure site. 

To give on-line, you can go to the following link to my personal fundraising site:

http://www.pmc.org/profile/MM0386

Many thanks,

Mike