FRAMINGHAM – The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation roared loudly in its fight against childhood cancer Sunday then their annual motorcycle Ride for Kids brought in over $50,000 in donations.
The foundation celebrated its 19th annual motorcycle ride with over 350 bikers parading through Metro West in honor of children around the country battling brain tumor. Compared to the 2015 ride, the participation was more than triple this year.
With a police escort, bikers set off from the Bose parking lot at 100 The Mountain Road at 10 a.m. for a trip that gave young cancer survivors and their families the chance to ride up front in motorcycle sidecars.
The event brought in $54,146 to fund research, according to national campaign manager Brittaney Shade. The foundation’s work is especially important, she said, because research into childhood brain tumors is vastly underfunded when compared to more common forms of the disease, such as lung and breast cancer.
In addition to funding research, the foundation works closely with families to provide financial and emotional support during and long after their bouts with the disease, which kills roughly 30 percent of those it afflicts, according to Dr. Mark Kieran of the Dana Farber Institute.
“I’m sure there was a few of you that when you drove by you probably saw a girl in a blue skirt crying because of the outreach and the compassion that you guys show for us,” said Alison Paltto, of Brockton, whose 8-year-old daughter Kailyn was diagnosed with a tumor in 2013. “The fight is so hard, it haunts me every day…. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much it means.”
Biker came from all over Massachusetts. Check out some of the photos of the event:
(Source: The MetroWest Daily News)
