One Challenge Met
We want to thank you for your response to our recent challenge grant. Together, your contributions pushed us past our $20,000 goal and secured the matching funds! This achievement comes at a critical time for us and helps us establish a base of funding for the project that we will be able to draw on into the coming year.
One More to Go
This weekend, we will participate in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC)–a 192 mile bike-a-thon supporting cancer research–as part of our efforts to share the story of its Founder, Billy Starr.
Shortly after losing his mother and two other family members to cancer during his final year in college, Billy lost his direction in life–for a while. And it was cycling, his favored outlet for coping with his grief, that brought him back on track. After graduation, Billy began getting up before dawn and setting off on a new personal challenge: to bike 140 miles from his parents’ house in Newton, MA, to Provincetown in time to catch the 3:30 PM ferry home.
After making this journey a few times and talking about it with some friends, Billy decided to turn the adventure into an event to raise funds for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. In the spring of 1980, he modified the route and split the ride into two days, leading a group of 36 riders on a 220 mile trek from Springfield to Provincetown, Massachusetts.
The ride was fraught with challenges and lacked the type of organization that Billy now describes as essential. The riders struggled to stay hydrated and fueled along the route, two of them got lost and had to back track from Rhode Island, and, when the group finally arrived in Provincetown, they learned that ferry service had been cancelled that day.
Despite the complications, the group raised $10,200, which they later presented to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Most importantly, though, it was on the bus back from Provincetown that Billy realized that he had found his calling. He made a promise to himself, and to the somewhat incredulous executives at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, that he would repeat the event and eventually turn it into Dana Farber’s largest source of funding.
Twenty-eight years later, that is exactly what he has done-with a lot of help from staff, volunteers, and riders from all walks of life. The PMC is now the single largest athletic fundraising event in the country and relies on the efforts of over 5,000 riders, 2,500 volunteers, and over 200,000 individual and corporate contributors to provide the Dana Farber with the funds that it needs to continue its pioneering research and treatment of cancer. Last year alone, the PMC provided the Dana Farber with $33 million, which brought its total amount raised since its inception to over $204 million.
After interviewing Billy and others close to the PMC last fall, we decided that we had to experience the PMC in action before trying to put its story on paper. This weekend, Michelle and her brother Brian will be riding the 192 mile original route from Sturbridge to Provincetown, and raising $8,000 to contribute to this year’s $34 million goal. Matt will be circulating amongst the event’s various venues as one of its crucial volunteers.
We’re excited to set out on this adventure and will be eager to share some of our experiences with you following the event. In the meantime, please think of us this weekend, and send some virtual energy to Michelle as she pedals to Provincetown!
Thank you for your continued support!
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