Over the course of the year, the Jimmy Fund puts on a number of events in order to raise money to treat and better the lives of cancer patients. Every August, they host the Pan-Mass Challenge, a two-day event where bikers travel from Wellesley, down the South Shore, all through Cape Cod and into Provincetown which is the location of the finish line. Day one of the event goes from Wellesley to Bourne and then day two goes from across the entire Cape, from Bourne to Provincetown.
Individual cyclists band together with their respective teams and together, they raise significant amount of money that goes to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and since it is a local event, there are a number of South Shore natives who partook in it. Halifax resident Lee Ferrande is one of those locals who competes in the event and has for a long time.
Ferrande has been biking in the event over the past two decades and this past go-around, she biked with Team WOW, who raised over $400,000. In all, there were 68 bikers on the team, according to the team’s page.
According to the Pan-Mass challenge website, Ferrande raised $2,790 for the charity. It was her 20th year participating in the biking event and a big reason why she participates is because she is a cancer survivor herself.
A number of her family members also helped out by volunteering with the event. Her sons both ride in the event annually while her daughters, and mother volunteer for the event.
In all, over 6,200 riders competed in the two day event and the overall goal was to raise $48 million. In its 38-year history, the event has raised $595 million for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
The event raises more than half of the Jimmy Fund’s donations for the year.