North resident, Feehan Grad Bikes to End Cancer????
Cote raising funds for PMC, benefits Dana-Farber and Jimmy Fund
For the fifth year, Robert Cote of North Attleborough will be participating in the Pan-Mass Challenge on August 5-6. This two day event involves bicycle rides that vary in length from less than 20 miles to more 180 miles all around Massachusetts. ??The purpose of the rides is to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.?? He has chosen the 85-mile Wellesley-to-Bourne ride on Saturday, and added the 76-mile Bourne-to-Provincetown ride on Sunday. This is the first year Cote will be riding both days.
When asked why he chose the PMC, Cote said, “The reason more than 5000 riders and volunteers participate is to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In the history of the PMC more than half a billion dollars has been raised. Last year’s total was $45,000,000. All of the money goes directly to research and treatment – none of it is taken as expenses. In the past few years I was able to count on your generous support to help me reach my pledged goals.???
???Every year we all lose friends, family, coworkers and neighbors to cancer and we all hope it won’t happen again,??? he continued.?? ???The PMC is one way we can hope to realize this dream. Please help me reach my goal and try to prevent more of these tragic losses.”?? He rattled off a list of people who he and his wife, Louise, knew who have fought various types of cancer, and not all successfully. ???We???ve been lucky in that we haven???t lost any friends or relatives to cancer this past year. But so many – too many – people have. And that???s why I ride.”
???I have to admit I was drawn to the PMC by the physical challenge – but I started thinking about the reason for the event. People like Karen, a friend from college I would talk to only about every five years, but the conversation always picked right up where we left off. It’s sad that she’s not there and those conversations have ended,??? he said.
He added, “I also think of people like Mikey, someone my wife and I knew since he was a toddler, who died at 28. Then there’s John and Mike from work. Rita and Helen, two women I called aunts. But its more than a memorial – it’s about making sure there success stories, like my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and a couple of co-workers at EMC. I could go on, but everyone knows someone who has had cancer. The more I raise, the more success stories there will be.“??
Cote is grateful for his partnerships with various local businesses, especially Dairy Queen in North Attleborough, who through their direct support and customer contributions have been very generous.?? People who would like to donate directly to Cote’s ride can do so through the Pan-Mass website: www.pmc.org/rc0227.?? Many companies will match their employee contributions to events like the PMC. Cote says, ???Dana-Farber is an important organization, and 100% of the money raised is used in cancer care and cancer research.????? He also noted that PMC weekend ???is usually on or near our wedding anniversary but my wife never complains, and continues to be my biggest supporter.???
The PMC donates 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar directly to Dana-Farber and is the institute???s largest single contributor, raising more than 52 percent of the annual revenue at The Jimmy Fund??. The PMC has raised more than a half-billion dollars for adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber since 1980. In 2016, the PMC gave a record gift of $47 million and was honored as Program of the Year by the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum. In 2017, the PMC aims to raise $48 million to support patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber. If accomplished, this fundraising goal will bring the PMC???s 38-year contribution to Dana-Farber to more than $595 million.??
The opening ceremonies for the 2017 Pan-Mass Challenge will be broadcast live on WBZ 4, 105.7 WROR radio, and streamed on PMC.org (courtesy of CBSBoston.com) on Friday Aug. 4.?? Wellesley-to-Bourne riders, including Cote, will leave Babson College at 7am on Sat. Aug. 5.