Sunday, August 22, 2010

Pelotonia10


Sorry, this is not a post about anything Oracle-related. But as our dear, departed friend Carl used to say - it's my blog.

I had the privilege of participating in this year's Pelotonia bike tour. What is Pelotonia, you may ask? "Pelotonia is a grassroots bike tour with one goal: to end cancer. Pelotonia raises money for innovative and life saving cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute."

This event had special significance for me, as our next-door neighbor, Jacob Carlino, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer earlier this year and is undergoing treatment now. Jacob is 12 years old. A child like Jacob or any person, for that matter, shouldn't have to suffer through this horrible disease. Jacob's father Dave organized a team in support of his son Jacob, and I had the privilege of being on this team. Above is the team - Dan, Matt, Scott, me and Dave. On the front of our shirts is a picture of Jacob who we were honoring with our team's tour.

Pelotonia was a most-impressive and well-organized event. There were over 4,000 riders and thousands of volunteers in addition to a great deal of corporate sponsorship. The estimate is that this one event will raise over $8 million, with 100% of this money going directly to fund cancer research at the Ohio State University Cancer Care Center and Solove Research Institute. The honorary chair of this year's Pelotonia tour was Ohio State football legend Chris Spielman, who he himself lost his wife to cancer just 9 short months ago.

My goal for this blog post? To simply raise awareness of this disease, and to also let the world know that there is an ever-growing army of people right here in Ohio who is contributing in ways small and large to the eradication of this disease. Lastly, I would like to recognize and thank the sponsors of me for this ride - I am grateful for your generous support: Sue, Sergio & Priscila, Jason & Shelley, Eric, Bob & Marge, Matt & Gretchen, Tim & Susie, Anton & Chris, Kathy & Terry, Neil & Margaret, Tom, Nada & Matt, Frank, Harry, and Mike & Anita.

3 comments:

Arie Geller said...

Hi Joel,

Inspiring entry. Well done.

I’m not sure I understand the financial side. The money is raised by your sponsors donating some amount of money on your (or the team) behalf?

Regards,
Arie.

Joel R. Kallman said...

Hi Arie,

Riders solicit money from people, to sponsor them (and support them). The money pledged goes exclusively to cancer research - no administrative costs are taken out of the money donated by sponsors.

Don't worry...I'll be contacting you next year. Especially since you're independently wealthy as a famous author now. I'm sure shekels are accepted.

Joel

Dan McGhan said...

Joel,

Sorry, just reading this - been busy ;)

Feel free to reach out to me as well. Great job!

Regards,
Dan