Screaming at the top of their lungs and with their enthusiastic parents nearby, nearly 325 face-painted kids lined up on the central green of the Middlesex School to take part in the Pan Mass Challenge kids ride in Concord this past weekend to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
The ride is one of the many that are being held accross Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and even Maryland this summer and fall that will benefit the Jimmy Fund. The rides are in conjuction with the Pan Mass Challenge which will take place in August 7-8, 2010.
"What's great about this it it gives the kids a way to fight back and to do something," said Sue Fulshaw, lead coordinator for the Concord ride.
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"Whats so special about this is there is not alot of ways that kids can participate in such a big way in philanthropic causes. This is one way that they can and feel good that they are helping people who are suffering with cancer," she added.
Fulshaw said many of the riders there where there because they had friends or relatives who had been affected by cancer. Other participants were equally optimistic, despite the questionable weather.
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"Its a great day, we're glad to be here, we've raised a lot of money, looks like the weather is going to be in our advatage and we are going to ride," said Matthew Rollender, another coordinator of the event.
He said that people were "jazzed up for a great ride today," and that despite the weather that there was great turnout. He said that the weather was the big question mark of the day but that it looked like that it was going to hold off for another couple of hours.
The big hold-up for the race seemed to be waiting for all the bikes to be given the thumbs up by the bike saftey techs who were on hand to make sure that there would be no breakdowns during the races which ran from 1, 5, 10 or 15 miles and was open to kids 5-15 years of age.
The DJ'd race has raised up to $100,000 in the last two years in Concord alone. That figure will probably go up to over $125,000. All of that money goes directly to Dana Farber according race organizers.
"I want you to know that by riding today you're part of the largest athletic fundraiser in the WORLD!" Fulshaw told a cheering crowd which was lined up to begin the race. She told the Concord Patch that because her daughter was a cancer survivor it meant a lot to her to be able to give back to Dana Farber in a meaningfull way.
