It’s More Than A Bike Ride ~ T’s Journey

I’d like to introduce you to my ‘little’ girl. I know you’ve read her name before .. it’s Tierney.. but this time out you are actually going to hear directly from my 19 year old “little” girl. She’s undertaking something extraordinary this summer and it’s challenging on many levels. Committing to this takes more than time and physicality.. it takes heart and passion and compassion and guts. Big time.  As you’ll see.. for Tierney, it’s more than a bike ride.

After confirming she didn’t actually have to develop, test, photograph and write a recipe, she agreed to share her mission with you all with this guest post… thanks T and thanks everyone for reading.Here, now, I pass this post over to Tierney.

Hi everyone!  Thanks so much for reading my post, I promise in the next one my mom will get back to the desserts and stuff!  I’d like you all to meet my friend Brent McCreesh:

In 2004, when Brent was just two years old, he was diagnosed with stage IV Neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer.  After undergoing countless operations and treatments at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, among other places, he is now 100% cancer free and living the life of a normal nine year old.

Not everyone is as lucky as Brent, and too many children are still being treated for Neuroblastoma at Dana Farber.  When Brent was first diagnosed, his parents Mike and Dana started TeamBrent, a charity dedicated to fight childhood cancer. Since it’s inception in 2004, TeamBrent has raised over 4.7 million dollars, not including money raised in 2011.

I first met the McCreeshes two summers ago, when I was a camp counselor for their youngest daughter, Kira.  I was shocked when I found out that her older brother Brent, whom I often saw whizzing through the camp, was a cancer survivor. Since then, I have spent countless hours babysitting the McCreeshes, and through taking them to sports practices, having play dates, and eating lots of pizza, I got to know the family really well.  The more I learned about what they went through when Brent was sick, the more I was inspired by the entire family.  The moment I realized the magnitude of Brent’s cancer was when I was looking through old pictures of their trip to Disneyland and Mrs. McCreesh casually asked: “You know this was on Brent’s Make-a-Wish trip, right?” I was shocked.  It’s hard to see Brent sidelined with a cold, let alone think that he was sick enough to be granted a wish from Make-a-Wish.

I have decided to join the McCreeshes in the fight against childhood cancer, and this summer, along with 62 other members of TeamBrentWheels, I will be biking 192 miles across Massachusetts in the Pan- Massachusetts Challenge.  This ride takes place over August 6 and 7, starting in Sturbridge and ending at the end of Cape Cod, in Provincetown. Every cent raised for the Pan-Mass Challenge goes directly to Dana-Farber. TeamBrentWheels has partnered with Dr. Lisa Diller, Clinical Director of Pediatric Oncology, to specifically fight Neuroblastoma.

I’m riding not only for Brent, but also for the many, many children and families that are affected by Neuroblastoma.  I have agreed to raise $4,200; however, I hope to raise much more.  I hope you will support my efforts and donate to my ride so that no other child or family has to go through what Brent and the McCreeshes did– every cent counts in the fight against childhood cancer. As the PMC motto states, with your help, we are closer by the mile.

Please take a look at the link below, which will bring you to my online fundraising page, and feel free to contact my mom with any questions she or I can answer.
http://www.pmc.org/profile/TD0128
Thanks so much for taking the time to read through my food-less post, and thanks to my mom for lending me her blog for a day.
Tierney

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