Reading PMC Kids Ride to raise money to help fight cancer: June 22

READING, Mass. —This summer, the Reading Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) Kids Ride will be one of 37 PMC Kids Rides throughout New England and beyond. In 2013, the PMC Kids Rides program attracted nearly 4,700 cyclists, ages 2 to 15, who rode between one and 26 miles in mini-bike-a-thons to raise money for cancer care and research.

The PMC Kids Rides are spokes in the PMC wheel, joining the more than 5,800 adult PMC cyclists in their mission to fund adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through the Jimmy Fund. The PMC is a two-day, 190-mile bike-a-thon held the first weekend of every August. Since 1980, the PMC has raised $414 million for the Jimmy Fund.

PMC Kids Rides offer a way for children to become part of the PMC mission, involving young people in volunteerism and fundraising in a safe and athletic way. Since the first ride in 1998, The PMC Kids Rides program has raised more than $5.5 million.

To provide the young cyclists with an additional push, the PMC recognizes cyclists in the Kids Rides program who raise $250 or more. Riders who meet this goal are honored as Heavy Hitters and receive an official PMC sack pack and certificate to acknowledge their fundraising achievements. 

The fourth annual Reading PMC Kids Ride expects 150 children, ages Pre-K to eighth grade, to ride one-mile loops around the Wood End School neighborhood in Reading. The event was started by Julie Swanson with help from her son David, then 7 years old. David wanted bring the PMC Kids Ride to his community in memory of his late uncle, Brian Swanson, a former Reading resident who lost his life to colon cancer in November 2006 at 36 years old.  The Reading PMC Kids Ride will hold a party after the ride, which will include music played by WEEI, sideline support from the New England Revolution street team, The Exploders kid band, many family-oriented activities, and a chance to win raffle and silent auction items donated by local businesses. The ride hopes to raise $20,000.

The Reading PMC Kids Ride will be held on Sunday, June 22, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Wood End School located at 85 Sunset Rock Lane in Reading. There is a $15 registration fee and a $25 minimum fundraising. PMC Kids Rides are sponsored by the Yawkey Foundation. Contributions can be made payable to the Pan-Mass Challenge. To register, visit http://kids.pmc.org. For more information, email Julie Swanson at kidspmcreading@yahoo.com                                                                                                  or call 800-WE-CYCLE.

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