give more to charity

Hey guys!
It’s the time of year when the sun is shining, baseball is in full swing, and the cyclists are out on the roads. Much like last year I’m spending much of my free time on the road training for the Pan Mass Challenge (www.pmc.org). For those of you who don’t know the PMC is the nation’s first fund raising bike-a-thon and today raises more money than any other athletic fundraising event in the country. To date the PMC has raised more than $171 million for cancer research and treatment. Many of us have friends, family, and coworkers that have been touched by cancer. The cause is near to many of our hearts, as our immediate families and friends have suffered losses, are survivors, and are currently battling.
While I am no longer a rookie and when I completed the ride last year that this was something I had to do again. This will be my second year participating, and my first time completing the Wellesley to P-Town leg. The ride consists of 2 days, 1000ft of ascent, and a total distance of 163 miles. It is not only longer, more challenging, but also has a considerably higher fund raising target.
As a team, the Cancer Crushers need to raise a total of nearly 40k. My personal fund raising goal is $4000. Needless to say I have a lot of training and fund raising to do.

You can donate online:
http://www.pmc.org/mypmc/profiles.asp?eGiftID=AO0027

Also, if you have a story to share with me, please let me know, as it will make my ride even more meaningful.

Thanks,
Aaron

We dropped off T’s companies gifts to their sponsored family. So selfish, because it made me feel really good.
AO

It’s already cold at night.
There will be tons of people in need this winter with the high oil prices, and increased COL.
AO

This is a hard goal. Despite the excess we all have, I think many of us still want more, myself included.
I’m above 50% of my goal, and the year is 50% over, so, I’m on track.
AO

I was much more generous than previous years. I have alot to learn about charity. Let this be a reminder to myself to do so in the future.
AO

My wife and I have decided to challenge ourselves to ride in this year’s Pan Mass Challenge, August 5th and 6th. We have a coworker who was looking for teammates, and it was something that we had heard of in years past, but we weren’t able to for various reasons. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a ride across south eastern Massachusetts, with thousands of cyclists participating. It raises money for the Jimmy Fund (Dana Farber Cancer Institute). Aaron lost his grandfather to cancer last summer, and I have two relatives (my uncle and my cousin) who are recent cancer survivors, and countless others that have touched our lives. We also lost a good friend this past fall, and while not due to cancer, it’s left us with a recent perspective on loss; out of that I think we have both felt we want to… how to put it, be engaged with others, give back more. We know many have lost family or friends to cancer, have loved ones currently battling the disease, or are themselves affected by cancer. Our ride doesn’t seem like that big a challenge in that perspective – we are doing ~150something miles over two days, which means we have a lot of riding to do beforehand to get us ready for it. We are not super fit going in, and we haven’t done something like this before, but we know it will keep us motivated…

We also have a lot of fundraising to do. Between us, we must raise $5,000, something neither of us has done before and certainly something that sounds pretty daunting to us at this point.

The slogan for the PMC if you’ve ever seen the stickers is “Closer by the mile,” and based on that, we’re asking for sponsorship by the mile too. Just a few miles will make a big difference! Your gift can be tax deductable, and if your employer offers matching, that works too. We’re ‘virtually’ on the starting line right now… even if you can’t sponsor us by the mile, any donation will help. We know that the Dana Farber Cancer Institute will use your donation well, as the Institute has helped countless children and adult cancer patients in our area, and furthers research which can help cancer patients around the world.

To sponsor our ride, you can donate to us online:

https://www.pmc.org/egifts/default.asp

For our rider codes: TV0015 for Tasha, AO0027 for Aaron (me). You can select both of us and it will automatically split your donation also. Let us know if you have also been affected by cancer or know someone who has, as it will make our ride even more meaningful to us.

Finally, while only one route remains open for riders (the others are full) the PMC is looking for thousands of volunteers for a variety of tasks – photographers, medical, rest stops, logistics, you name it and they probably have a need. So if you want to cheer us and many others on in person, volunteer and we’ll see you there! I understand it can be quite inspirational, even from the sidelines.

Thanks for reading, and we hope you will support us, and the Jimmy Fund (Dana Farber Cancer Institute)
Tasha and Aaron

This will be a serious feat. I’ve got a pretty high target to reach. Wish me luck. More on this later.
AO

All the bell ringers are gone, the turkey day drives are over, yet it’s still cold out, and shelters are overflowing. Just because the holiday season is over, doesn’t mean you have to stop giving.
~ this is a just a note to self ~

I’m going to maintain this as a goal for the comming year. This passed year was filled with disasters global, local, and personal. All of which I tried to give even if it was just a little bit. I will do the same for the comming year. I would like to be able to double my efforts this year.
AO

I’m not sure If I met my personal goal for the year. I will say this. I have been more generous this year than years before. I have tried to share my wealth with others. I know I can do more, and I plan to do more next year, and the year after that.
Tis the season. I think I’m going to try to sponsor a kid at both the temple, or the church’s gift trees. (I’m assuming they will both have them).
AO