Reid's Ride Funds Made Upcoming Dedication Possible

Each July, several hundred cyclists meet in the Lynnfield High School parking lot early on a Sunday morning and make a 28-mile journey to Gloucester’s Stagefort Park in honor of Reid Sacco, who died of cancer at age 20 in 2005.

Soon before last year’s ride, Sacco’s family and Tufts Medical Center announced the Reid R. Sacco Adolescent & Young Adult Clinic for Cancer and Blood Diseases. Dr. Susan Parsons, director of the clinic, spoke at the end of last year’s ride, which raised about $150,000 with help from about 400 cyclists and a number of donors and sponsors.

The next step for the new clinic is its official dedication, which now takes place at the Wolff Auditorium at Tufts at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24th. The event had initially scheduled for Tuesday, April 16th but was re-scheduled after the Marathon Bombing.

In a recent email update to media and others, Lorraine Sacco, Reid's mother, noted that the clinic had opened back in January. Sacco also sent around a Youtube clip showing a TV news account of the first Reid's Ride.

"Cancer is the second leading cause of death for this age group, and this demographic 15-39 has been tragically left behind in the progress made in cancer treatment and survival seen in younger and older patients.  The clinic is a huge step forward in helping fill this gap," wrote Lorraine Sacco.

This year’s Reid’s Ride is on Sunday, July 21, 2013, with cyclists leaving the LHS parking lot at 7 a.m. The ride runs through Middleton, Danvers and Beverly before turning up the coastline through Manchester and into Gloucester. If you would like to get involved as a rider or as a donor, click here.

For more about the Reid Sacco AYA  Cancer Alliance, click here.