Dear Family and Friends,
Just over one week ago, I was among the thousands of bike
riders who completed the Pan Mass Challenge, raising an estimated $31 million
to find a cure for cancer, the largest single event fund raiser in the
country. This was a year of breaking boundaries – those related to the
breadth of areas for which we supported research for a cure, number of riders -
5,000+ and volunteers - 3,100, and even Republicans and Democrats riding
together in our two Senators – Scott Brown and John Kerry!
For those of you who contributed already, thank you so much!!!
Your contributions mean a lot to me, my fellow team mates and most importantly
to the PMC-Dana Farber Cancer Institute and those who are fighting
cancer. If you have not yet contributed, it’s not too late –you
can make an on-line donation on http://www.pmc.org/profile/DG0153 -- please use my eGift ID
- DG0153.
Or, if you prefer, please send a check (payable to
“PMC-Jimmy Fund”) to Daniel Goldman, 16 Somerset Road, Newton, MA 02465.
We completed the 150 mile two day ride just after 10am on
Sunday morning, having left Bourne at 5:30am for Wellesley. The weather
could not have been any better and the camaraderie among the Bikers’ Dozen team
could not have been more purpose-oriented
and sincere. We rode with heavy hearts for one of our teammates, Marty
Cole, who tragically passed away earlier this year from a brain aneurism.
A picture of the team is attached.
Our oncologist teammate, Jon Dubois, related the following story
with one of his patients which I felt compelled to share with you:
As I was
hobbling around the office yesterday with every thigh and calf muscle reminding
me of the ride (and of my age), I happened to see a long time patient of mine
who is currently undergoing therapy for now his third cancer (has survived
lymphoma and prostate cancer; now receiving combination chemotherapy and
radiation therapy at MGH for a rare pancreatic tumor. At the end of the
visit, he handed me an envelope with a check for $100 (a big amount from this
guy). He had not known how to endorse it and simply asked if I
could get it to the people who were being helped by the “big cancer ride” he
knew I was involved with. His wife reminded me that a few visits back we
had talked about the PMC. She told me that her husband had been taken
back by how our team, in his eyes a group of ordinary guys who could have just
as easily spent the weekend and all the training sessions sitting on the couch
drinking beer, would put the effort into helping people who we did not know,
including himself. Although I insisted that he keep the check and
explained that I really was uncomfortable with taking a contribution from a
patient, he ultimately won the discussion. As I walked them out, his wife
squeezed my hand and simply looked at me – her eyes clearly acknowledging the
satisfaction of how therapeutic the visit was for her husband.
So, where do your donations go?
·
All proceeds go to support cancer research;
not a single dollar is used for the PMC ride itself, which is solely
supported by donations from vendors.
·
The Biker’s Dozen has chosen to designate 50% of
our funds to support a new research branch at Dana-Farber called the Clinical
Research Institute (CRI). This program is specifically designed to
provide money and infrastructure to younger investigators doing the
“cutting-edge” research where traditional funding mechanisms can fall short.
The focus of much of this research is on the genetic and molecular
aspects of cancer and cancer therapies now opening the doors to the very
exciting, novel and “targeted” therapies (for example, vaccines and “molecular
pills”) that we hope will replace the current conventional treatments like
chemotherapy.
·
The other 50% goes to support finding a cure for
a form of brain tumor called Pediatric
Low Grade Astrocytomas (PLGAs), which are the most
common form of childhood brain tumors. The Central Brain Tumor Registry of the
United States estimates that there are over 20,000 children with PLGAs today
with over 1,000 new children diagnosed with some type of astrocytoma brain
tumor each year. Historically, PLGAs and related tumors, despite being the most
common form of solid tissue cancer in children, were orphans in the cancer
research field -- a perpetual lack of funding severely dampened researcher
interest in the disease, creating a doom loop that many in the field considered
impossible to break. Since then, with
your help, we've made huge strides in getting funding and
attracting a growing number of scientists to pay closer attention to this
silent killer.
Thanks again!
With best regards,
Dan
Daniel P. Goldman
EVP & CFO
GreatPoint Energy, Inc.
222 Third Avenue, Suite 2163
Cambridge, MA 02142
O 617 500 2676 extn 1510
C 617 230 8701
F 312 376 3260
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