From left to right: Tricia Glynn Campos, Gordon, Elizabeth, Tamar Davis, Lorn Davis, Gerry Campos. At the 2011 Nantucket Triathlon.

Gearing up for a second year of participating in the Pan Mass Challenge bike ride, which raises funds exclusively for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Gordon Sewall gives a report on this year’s Team Elizabeth line-up and an update on fundraising for the Elizabeth Alling Sewall endowment for breast cancer research at Dana-Farber:

“The success of Team Elizabeth’s inaugural effort in the Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) bike ride last year was ‘quite remarkable’ to borrow words that Eric Winer, MD used to describe Elizabeth herself. The team’s fundraising helped bring the balance of the Elizabeth Alling Sewall endowment for breast cancer research at Dana-Farber to over $250,000. This magnificent showing of support in Elizabeth’s memory is an enormous source of pride for my sons Scott, Duncan and me. We are humbled and honored by it. Thank you.

We have chosen the PMC bike ride as our annual fundraising outreach for Elizabeth’s fund. This year, Team Elizabeth will have four members riding. Joining me again this year will be good friend Gerry Campos, who was part of our inaugural team. Gerry’s wife Tricia Glynn Campos, a close friend of Elizabeth’s, will be joining us in her first PMC ride. Tamar Davis, another friend of Elizabeth’s who has a powerful story of her own, is also riding for the first time this year. Our fifth team member, Rob Moore, who rode last year and who is a veteran of many PMC rides, is on sabbatical this year due to a schedule conflict. Elizabeth would be proud that we are fielding a gender-balanced team this year.

Our team goal is to raise $50,000 in this year’s ride and bring Elizabeth’s endowment to over $300,000.

There are three ways to help this effort. The first is to consider riding in the PMC as a member of Team Elizabeth this year or in the future. Every cent of every dollar you raise will flow directly to her fund. The second way is to donate to our Team ride. Whether you choose a specific Team member (or members) to support, or you choose to donate to the Team collectively, all funds raised will go to Elizabeth’s endowed fund and will support breast cancer research at Dana-Farber to develop more effective treatment for the disease.

If you’d like to donate by check, please write it to Pan Mass Challenge with the Elizabeth Alling Sewall endowment on the memo line. You can send your check to me at: 57 Wheelwright Farm, Cohasset, MA 02025. I will ensure that all of your generous support goes to directly to her fund. If you prefer to donate online by credit card, you can do so by visiting our Team page on the PMC site. From there you can give to the Team as a whole or select a specific rider from our Team list and donate directly at his or her page.

Please know that all gifts, no matter the size, are important and deeply appreciated. I am asking those who have the financial capacity to consider matching the $2,500 donation that Scott, Duncan and I are making again this year. Last year we were enormously fortunate to have seven gifts at this “Angel Donor” level.

Thank you for all you have done to make this memorial to Elizabeth an eye-catching success story that offers significant promise in the effort to treat and cure breast cancer. The Alling and Sewall families are profoundly grateful for your support.”

—Gordon Sewall