Pan Mass Challenge 2011 – Please Support my Ride & Help Lick Cancer

It’s that time again – the Pan Mass Challenge is coming up the first weekend of August, and I will be riding for the eighth time along the 2-day, 200-mile route, as part of a village on wheels that comes together each year to fight cancer.  The 5000+ riders, and the volunteer bike mechanics, massage therapists, folks who prepare and serve food and drink, folks who come out in droves to cheer us on, and say “Thanks for riding,” all come together in support of a cause.  We need your help to support this cause — the Jimmy Fund at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. 

Thanks in large part to the generosity of PMC corporate sponsors, 100% of every dollar you donate goes straight to the Dana Farber – no overhead comes out of your donation, so it can go straight to work supporting the Dana Farber’s cancer research and patient care missions.  

I have not done as a good a job as usual of staying  in shape this winter, and my training rides are uncovering muscles that I forgot I had.  My family says I seem achier and whinier than before.  But I know I will get myself ready for the big weekend, because I know how important it is.  I’ve benefited directly from the high-quality care provided by the Dana Farber and its affiliates, and I know that too many of us have had occasion to benefit directly or indirectly from the care and research that sustains us and our loved ones.

In some ways, the ride in August is a two-day party – but it is a deadly serious one, beneath all the fun and camaraderie (and loud music, and bubbles, and costumes) out on the road.  We’re deadly serious about sticking it to cancer.  We’re deadly serious about striving for a world that’s cancer-free.  And we are crazy and determined enough to come together and work at making that dream a reality by pulling off a stunt like the PMC every year.

Join us.

Please contribute to the cause by clicking on the Pan Mass Challenge link and using your credit card.  (Appreciated securities will work just fine, too.)

Each year when I ride, I carry with me a list of names of those for whom I ride, whether in their memory or in their honor.  When you donate, feel free to let me know of a name you’d like me to carry with me this year.

Please share this message with friends, family members, colleagues and business associates who you think will be moved by this cause to join in and contribute as well.

In my seven years of riding, you have collectively helped me raise about $45,000 for the cause. Over the 31 runnings of the PMC to date, the PMC community has raised an incredible $303 million for the Dana Farber.  The group goal this year is $34 million.  Once again, please join us.

And please follow along the first weekend in August – whether you’re by the side of the road, or following along at home via Twitter or New England Cable News, or simply sending us your good vibes, we draw strength from your support.

Thank you.

David Harlow
The Harlow Group LLC
Health Care Law and Consulting