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

 

This e-mail may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient (or have received this email in error) please notify the sender immediately and destroy this email. Any unauthorized copying, disclosure or distribution of the material in this email is strictly prohibited.