COURTESY OF PAN-MASS CHALLENGE
BOURNE – The Pan-Mass Challenge bikeathon will be held this weekend and program officials are hoping to hit their goal of raising $70 million for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
The first year of the event brought in an amount of $10,200, but Billy Starr, Founder and Executive Director of the challenge, said they are striving to reach the $70 million dollar goal which would bring them closer to a billion dollars raised since 1980.
“This year, we have 6,500 registered riders and another 3,200 volunteers scattered throughout the state. They are in 47 towns on 16 routes, riding and covering as much as 370 miles,” said Starr.
Though the event is largely about the fundraising, the riders and officials are holding out hope that the good forecasted weather stays true for the weekend.
As the event has grown over the years, Starr believed he could make something that was strong for the cause, but he never imagined it could grow as large as it has.
“The first year was about ‘can i make this big?’ and ‘wouldn’t it be great to raise a million dollars in a year?’ and that was 1989, when our campaign was ‘be one in a million!’ now next year it will be ‘one in a billion!’,” Starr said.
With the challenge becoming such a monumental event for so many who are affected, including Starr who lost his mother, uncle, and cousin tragically in his 20s, the ability to say that they have all helped raise over a billion dollars towards their cause is something they can be proud of.
Starr also said he wanted people to know that the biggest message of the PMC is “you’re not in this alone, there is an entire community of support”.
For more information about the event visit their website.
More stories from CapeCod.com:
Pan-Mass Challenge Aims for $70 Million Dollar Goal August 3, 2023- Pan-Mass Challenge Returns this Weekend August 1, 2023
Pan-Mass Challenge Raises Historic $69M for Cancer Research November 22, 2022
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