Join the Global Fight Against Cancer - Donate to The Jimmy Fund Now!

This weekend I'll be riding my bike 192 miles in my fourth annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge. The PMC, as it is known, is a charity bike ride raising money for life-saving cancer treatment and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through donations to The Jimmy Fund. One hundred percent of all rider-raised donations go directly to the Jimmy Fund, there is no event overhead thanks to thousands of volunteers and hundreds of corporate sponsors!

As an active cyclist, I am not as challenged by the cycling as I am the fund raising! With a $4,200 commitment pledged the day I register, I must raise the money or have my credit card charged for the balance. The ride is in four days and I still need to raise nearly $2,000!

Will you join in the global fight against cancer and make a donation to The PMC and The Jimmy Fund? Will you go out for steak tacos instead of a steak dinner and donate the difference to The Jimmy Fund? Will you buy a beer instead of a martini and donate the difference to The Jimmy Fund? Will you order a salad instead of a three course meal and donate the difference to The Jimmy Fund? Will you eat in instead of going out altogether and donate the money you saved to the Jimmy Fund?

 To make a 100% tax-deductible donation online, please visit http://www.pmc.org


From the Pan-Mass Challenge web site:

Cancer Facts & Figures


Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by either the runaway growth of cells or the failure of cells to die normally. Cancer can arise in any organ of the body and strikes one of every two American men and one of every three American women at some point in their lives.


Each year, nearly 1.4 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States, a figure that does not include the 900,000 cases of skin cancer diagnosed annually. Cancer is the second leading cause of death (after heart disease) in the United States, accounting for 560,000 deaths every year. While more than 3 million people are diagnosed with cancer around the globe each year, the figure most likely represents just a percentage of people who have the disease but remain undiagnosed due to decreased access to health care in different parts of the world. There are more than 100 different varieties of cancer, which can be divided into six major categories. Carcinomas, the most common type of cancer, originate in tissues that cover a surface or line a cavity of the body. Sarcomas begin in tissue that connects, supports or surrounds other tissues and organs. Lymphomas are cancers of the lymph system, the circulatory system that bathes and cleanses the body's cells. Leukemias involve blood-forming tissues and blood cells. As their name indicates, brain tumors are cancers that begin in the brain, and skin cancers, including dangerous melanomas, originate in the skin. Cancers are considered metastatic if they spread via the blood or lymphatic system to other parts of the body to form secondary tumors.

Blog Away Hunger - Help Haiti

Life. A single word came mean so much. L'Chaim means "To Life" in Hebrew and is a common toast when friends and family gather for a drink. To Life. In the darkest moments of one's life, when all seems lost, how do you look forward? How do you find the courage to look forward to the next day, the next week, or the next month. How do you find courage to look forward to your next meal?

Eight days ago, Haiti was rocked by an earthquake that flattened much of the nation. Aftershock followed by aftershock, continue to rock the country throughout the ongoing rescue efforts. Even before the earthquake that shattered some already very torn lives, hunger and poverty was a problem in one of this hemispheres poorest nations. Now, there is chaos; there is death; there is uncertainty. But, there is also HOPE!

While reading my friend Rachael's blog today, Tokyo Terrace, I learned that a dear friend of hers "perished" in a building that collapsed during the earthquake. Looking at images coming across the wire give me the chills, and reading stories like Rachael's called me to action. In Rachel's post she mentioned a movement led by Marc from No Recipes called Blog Away Hunger. Marc is now asking bloggers to donate their January ad revenue to Haiti relief organizations as part of his effort. In response, I have agreed to donate my January and February ad revenue to a Haiti relief organization. I have not yet decided which organization to donate to, so if you would like me to consider a charity close to you, please leave a comment.

All the best in these times of grief and despair. There is hope, and it starts with support from around the world.

Save the taste buds!

Imagine life without your favorite foods. Imagine everything began to taste too salty, very bitter, or even metallic. For all the people that will be diagnosed with cancer this year, the chemotherapy treatments they will undergo will take their appetites and change the way their favorite food tastes. Imagine if chocolate no longer tasted like chocolate!

Please make a small donation and join my campaign to save the taste buds - join the fight against cancer: http://www.pmc.org/egifts/SD0131


Each year nearly 1.4 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States, a figure that does not include the 900,000 new cases of skin cancer diagnosed annually. Cancer is the second leading cause of death (after heart disease) in the United States, accounting for 560,000 deaths every year. While more than 3 million people are diagnosed with cancer around the globe each year, the figure most likely represents just a percentage of people who have the disease but remain undiagnosed due to decreased access to health care in different parts of the world.

The treatments that cancer patients must endure are painful. Chemotherapy makes their hair fall out. It alters the way their food tastes. It destroys their appetite. As if receiving the news that "it's cancer" isn't bad enough, the treatments needed to kill the cancer are so toxic that sometimes they kill the patient too.

This summer on August 1st and 2nd I will be riding 192 miles (309 kilometers) across the state of Massachusetts in my third Pan-Mass Challenge. Over the last two years I raised over $10,000 in memory of my family and friends that have been taken away by cancer. I expect that this year, due to the economy, my fund raising is going to be an even bigger challenge. I have set a modest goal of $5,000 this year with 100% of every dollar going directly to the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

My family has seen it's share of cancer over the years. My grandmother, one of my great aunts, and lots of cousins; only one survivor. Friends from high school and summer camp who never saw their 30th birthday. Cancer does not discriminate. Cancer doesn't care how old you are or if you have children. Cancer never takes the day off, and neither should we.

So readers, I'm asking you to think about your life, your family, your friends. The probability is very high that you know someone who has had cancer. Please consider that this ride, the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, gives 100% of the rider-raised donations directly to The Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for the treatments and research that save lives. It helps fund early detection programs that often times mean the difference between life and death. Every dollar raised brings us all one step closer to a cure.

I am asking you to please make a 100% tax-deductible donation to help in the continuing fight against cancer; each donation brings us all closer to a cure.

To donate online, go to http://www.pmc.org/egifts/SD0131

PS: I’d like to ask one more favor. It would be so great if you would share this post with one of your friends or family members and ask them to make a a donation too. Just think how much more money we could raise in our effort to rid our lives of this horrible disease.