Wellesley-Weston Kids Ride Helps Bring Cancer Research Closer to the Finish Line

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Wellesley-Weston Kids Ride Helps Bring Cancer Research Closer to the Finish Line

On June 6, 750 children from ages 3 to 13 will snap on helmets, climb onto a tricycle or bicycle and pedal hard to raise money for life-saving cancer research and treatment as part of the 4th Annual Pan-Mass Challenge Wellesley-Weston Kids Ride. This year, a sponsorship by Woodmeister Master Builders will give the young riders a real finish line to cross when they jubilantly complete their rides at Babson College.

“One of the things our ride has lacked in the past is an honest-to-gosh finish,” said Beth Terrana, Wellesley resident and co-chair of the event. “The funds from Woodmeister will allow us to create an actual finish line, so these kids can feel the thrill of victory and a real sense of accomplishment.”

According to Beth,helps make it possible for 100 percent of the money raised by the young riders to go to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Last year, the Wellesley-Weston event, the largest of the 33 PMC Kids Rides, raised nearly $140,000. It continues the 31-year Pan-Mass Challenge tradition, an annual bike-a-thon for adults that has raised $270 million for cancer research.

The Wellesley-Weston Kids Ride dovetails beautifully with Woodmeister’s commitment to support youth development, according to Ted Goodnow, the company’s founder and CEO. “We were impressed with what these children have accomplished to help others,” he said. “The Kids Ride is the result of some very caring children taking the initiative, and we couldn’t be prouder to be part of their efforts to put an end to cancer.”

The idea for a kids ride was hatched several years ago when an 11-year old, Ryan Wilkinson of Medfield, wanted to ride in the PMC, but was too young for the minimum age of 15. “He pouted for a week or two and then said, ‘well if I can’t ride the PMC, then I’m going to do my own PMC,’ ” said Billy Starr, PMC founder and executive director. Ryan organized his own ride, made up t-shirts, sold lemonade, and engaged the interest of his parents and others. According to Billy, one day Ryan “walked into my office and said, ‘I’m here to give you a check for
$5,000.’ ”

The first official PMC Kids Ride took place in 2005, and the Wellesley-Weston event began a year later, at the initiation of Wellesley resident Madeleine Smith, who was 12 at the time. “Madeleine said to her mom, ‘I think it would be really great to have one of these rides, maybe we should start one,’ Beth Terrana explained. “The first year we had about 200 kids, and for the past two years, we’ve sold out at 750.”

Beth, who will make her 8th PMC ride this year and has personally raised over $1 million by riding, serves on the Dana-Farber board of trustees and just finished her term on the PMC board. This event is “great for the kids,” she said. They’re “writing letters, emailing people, going door-to-door, walking dogs, selling brownies, even selling lemonade at the Boston Marathon to raise money for the ride.”
 

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