$35M Raised for Cancer Research

Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Gives $35 million to Jimmy Fund
One-third of a billion dollars given over 32 years

BOSTON –– The 2011 Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) raised $35 million for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and its Jimmy Fund. The 2011 fundraising total is $2 million, or 5.7 percent, more than the PMC gave in 2010 and brings its 32-year Jimmy Fund contribution to $338 million.
 
Tonight, PMC Founder and Executive Director, Billy Starr, will present a ceremonial check to Dana-Farber President Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD at a Fenway Park celebration that will be attended by more than 500 PMC cyclists and volunteers.

The PMC is the most successful athletic fundraising event in the nation; it raises and contributes more money to charity than any other. The 2011 PMC exceeded its own fundraising goal of $34 million by $1 million. “PMC riders are committed to the cause and to this event,” said Billy Starr, PMC founder and executive director. “Their dedication to raising money for cancer research is unparalleled in the fundraising industry.”
The contribution represents 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar, a charity pass-through rate that is nearly unparalleled within the athletic fundraising event industry. Approximately 3,100 volunteers and 200 companies supplying almost $5 million in products and services provided riders with food, mechanical and medical assistance, luggage transport and support of all kinds.

Last August, 5,169 cyclists from eight countries and 37 states rode one of 11 routes that ranged from 25 to 190 miles. Riders included seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, 350 cancer survivors, and avid cyclists and weekend warriors alike. Many rode in support of loved ones being treated for cancer or in memory of those who have been lost to the disease.

“PMC money is seed money that enables our scientists to conduct the earliest forms of research,” Benz said. “The money they raise is critical to our work. It enables us to invest in major new patient care and research initiatives that could otherwise go unfunded.”

Founded in 1980 when 36 cyclists rode across Massachusetts and raised $10,200 for the Jimmy Fund, the PMC is known today as the “gold standard” of athletic fundraising events due to the unprecedented sums it raises and its consistently efficient charity pass-through rate. One of the very first athletic fundraising events in the nation, the PMC was a pioneer in the way it focused on raising money for charity.

The 33rd annual PMC is set for Aug. 4 and 5, 2012. Registration opens online on Jan. 10 for PMC alumni and Jan. 17 for newcomers. For more information about the PMC, which is presented by the Boston Red Sox Foundation and New Balance, visit www.pmc.org.

Lance and Me

It's official. Lance Armstrong will be joining me for this weekend's Pan Mass Challenge. (Me and 5300 other cyclists raising money for cancer research.)

For Lance, the 192 mile ride is little more than a warm-up jaunt around the neighborhood. For the rest of us, it's a wonderful way to spend two days on our bikes, enjoying the scenery, the comraderie and supporting the mission of the PMC.

For me, the ride is a gift -- an opportunity to make new friends, see old friends, enjoy two days on the bike cheerleading for such an important cause. It is the payback for the months of training and fundrasing. One of the very special parts of the ride, for me, is the climb along the ocean in Wellfleet. When I first did the ride some 15 years ago, I struggled up this climb. Now I attack it, drawing strength from my fellow riders and the onlookers. Here's what the climb looks like from my vantage point.

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 192 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. I will continue to share some of last year's videos with you, so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the ride.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

I need your help to make my personal goal. Together we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 4 days. I have training and fundraising to do and I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033

11 Days to Go

(Originally written on July 26, 2011)

Myra Kraft passed away last week, after a battle with cancer. She was an amazing woman, giving so much of herself over the years. She ran the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation; was active in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the American Repertory Theater, and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, among others.

In addition, for more than 30 years, she supported the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her husband, Robert, is a Dana-Farber trustee. I don't know if she ever rode the Pan Mass Challenge, but I would not be surprised if she had! 

Given her work with children, she would have enjoyed riding by the summer camp in Brewster. Every year the campers line up alongside the road, cheering and doing the "wave" as we ride by.

 Here is a rider's view of their cheer.

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 190 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. Over the next few weeks, I will share more of last year's videos with you, so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the ride.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

With your help, we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 11 days. I have training and fundraising to do. I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033

Amie's Story

(Originally written June 26, 2011)

My friend Amie has been battling cancer for six years. For the past two, I've ridden the PMC with her, and hope to ride with her again this August. On Saturday, she was at Fenway Park, with the Boston Bruins, the Stanley Cup, and the annual gathering of the PMC at Fenway. Here's a link to a short video in which she discusses her cancer, the PMC and the Dana Farber.

And here is a link to a video of Amie, her husband Greg and the rest of our PMC team riding into the Provincetown finish line at the 2010 PMC.

With your help, Amie will be able to enjoy many more PMC finishes like this one!

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 190 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. Over the next few weeks, I will share more of last year's videos with you, so that you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the ride.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

With your help, we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 41 days. I have training and fundraising to do. I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033

Too Young

(Originally written May 15, 2011)

In January, as I have done in each of the previous 13 Januarys, I registered for the Pan Mass Challenge and committed to raising money for cancer research. Between the snow, the rain, the new job and life in general, however, I have not been focusing on PMC training.

While my bike waits patiently, cancer does not. We've lost more than a few good people to cancer this year, some famous, some family, some friends. The news delivers the constant reminder that the fight must go on.

And then I attended the Needham Relay for Life this weekend and noticed a young girl walking in the first lap of the event...the Survivor's Lap.

She's too young to be a survivor, I thought. That's just not fair.

Survivors are supposed to be older, adults who can understand the disease, who can ask questions of the doctors, who can deal with the questions "why me" and "what if"...and sometimes "how long."

Then I thought of the young girl, another cancer survivor, who I met at a water stop during the 2009 PMC. When I asked if I could take her picture, she requested my camera and demanded a picture of me! That brief encounter left a large imprint.

This courageous young girl was battling cancer and just didn't know that things should be different, that she should be out playing ball or roller skating or playing with friends, rather than going to the Dana Faber and receiving chemo.

Or maybe she did know...and was insisting on some normalcy in her life. After all, I was the one who had just ridden 80 miles on a bicycle (on my way to Bourne and 100 miles for the first day), while she sat with her mom and sister under a shade tree watching the event. She did take a great picture.

So I ride for her and for all the other children who shouldn't have to deal with cancer.

I committed to raising $10,000 for cancer research this year and to pedaling the 190 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. The ride itself should be easy...I've done it many times before and it is always my favorite ride of the year. I see old friends, make new ones, laugh and cry with all.

I have a fabulous support team for the ride, including my wife who has been volunteering for the PMC for many years. In fact, for every two riders, there's one volunteer -- a team of more than 2,500 volunteers who help ensure that the event is successful.

And I have built a team of financial supporters over the years, several hundred people who donate $10 or more (averaging almost $150 per person). Without this second team, the PMC would be just another weekend bike ride.

With your help, we will raise $35 million this year for cancer research, with fully 100% of all donations going to the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber. 100%!

The ride starts in 82 days. I have training and fundraising to do. I appreciate your support.

Best,

Lee

To donate, please visit https://www.pmc.org/egifts/MakeADonation.asp?eGiftID=LL0033

The Law of Attraction

Driving instructors tell their students to look where they want to go. For a clean line through a curve, look way ahead to the latter part of the turn. And they caution to avoid looking where they don’t want to go. Don’t look at the headlights of the oncoming traffic. Instead, keep your eyes focused on the road ahead of you...where you do want to go.

The universe has a similar law of attraction. What you focus on, you get. Good or bad, the universe doesn’t care. Focus on good things and you get good things. Focus on bad things…

Most people know me as a positive person. And it’s true, I’ve worked hard to clear out the negativity in my life and to focus on the positive. I truly believe that one creates whatever he or she wants by being clear about those wants and by using language to create the possibility.

Does it also take hard work? Sure. Are some things physically impossible? Maybe. However, the reality is that we are capable of accomplishing far more than our current belief systems allow. My friend Pam Fernandez didn’t let her blindness stand between her and a gold medal and World Record Time, in cycling, at the 2000 Sydney Para-Olympic Games!

So what does this have to do with the Pan Mass Challenge and cancer research?

Over the past fourteen years I’ve spent a lot of time and energy focusing on fundraising for cancer research. And I’m well aware of the law of attraction.

But I haven’t been focusing on cancer. I’ve been focusing on creating a world free of cancer, a world of health and vitality. I get great pleasure in riding the 194 miles of the Pan Mass Challenge, not because it’s a wonderful bike ride, but because I have the opportunity to be strong for those who may be struggling. I consider myself a cheerleader for the cause, enrolling others not just in the fight to end cancer, but to create a world of health and vitality.

Sometimes maintaining a positive context can be a challenge. One of my PMC teammates told me last week that she’s now undergoing weekly treatments at the Dana Farber. She’s been coping with her cancer, with her typical positive attitude, for a long time. She didn’t need a cheerleader; she just needed a hug.

I was there to give her that hug. And it was the kick in the pants I needed to get into action around this year’s PMC. I’ve started my fundraising earlier and I intend to raise more money this year.

And I need your help. Together we win.

Together we can create a world of health and vitality. And to do that, we need to continue to fund the research that will help to eradicate cancer.

To donate please visit the PMC website. Fully 100% of every dollar raised goes to cancer research. If you have already donated, thank you!

Resources: For an introduction to the law of attraction, I’d suggest the excellent book Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting, by Lynn Grabhorn. You can purchase it here on Amazon .

Business executives who want to foster health and vitality in their businesses (and enjoy a boost to their bottom line) should contact the Boston-based wellness firm, AdvancingWellness. The founder of the business is a long-standing supporter of the PMC.

Together we win!

Thank you,

Lee

The Optimist Rides Again

Registration for the Pan Mass Challenge opens in January, and for each of the past 14 years, I have logged on to the PMC website, confirmed my registration information, accepted the various commitments and disclaimers, and hit the registration button.

The first day of registration fell between several of the many snowstorms we've had this year. The seemingly unending snow did give me pause for thought. Will it ever stop snowing? Will I be able to get out on the road to train before June? What will the economy be like this year? Will people donate as they have in years past?

Then I pressed the registration button. I have faith that just as the weather will turn and the snow will melt, we will once again raise some $35 million for cancer research and the Jimmy Fund.

We have made great strides in cancer research, yet last year we also lost more than a few great people to the disease. Laurent Fignon, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, lost his fight with cancer in August. Fignon was just a month older than I am. A good friend, Steven Gainsboro, lost his fight with brain cancer in December.

So I ride. I am a cheerleader for the PMC, for fundraising, for the eradication of cancer. I see the possibility of a day when people no longer have to suffer through chemotherapy, to quietly endure the extended after-effects of chemo, to have to grieve for those they've lost.

With your help, we can fund the research that will bring that day closer.

To donate please visit the PMC website. Fully 100% of every dollar raised goes to cancer research. If you have already donated, thank you!

Thank you,

Lee