Carole Saros, the mother of a Brain Tumor survivor, attended the 2000 New England Ride for Kids(R) on 20 August 2000, with her family.  They participated in the ride as passengers in a side car.  This is a note she sent to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation upon returning from the ride.

Thank you for the honor of participating in the Massachusetts Ride for Kids. All 
of us had a wonderful ride. When I looked behind us and saw 400 bikes and looked ahead and saw a police escort, I realized that we were surrounded with protection and love. We felt like the special cargo that everyone so carefully delivered to Amherst. In addition, the amount of money raised for research was equally overwhelming.

The funny part was that as I went to get some water numerous people came up to me to thank me for bringing my daughter to the ride. This seemed so ironic because we are the ones who are grateful for all of your efforts.  I was amazed at how perfectly orchestrated the day was. It is still amazing to me that at every major intersection on the entire 1 & 1/2 hour ride there was yet another police officer stopping traffic so that we could all pass through safely. Your hard work at bringing these rides to fruition is so obvious.

Everyone in your organization and all the riders are forever in our thoughts and hearts; you all have given us a very special day of memories. We hope that next year we can again have the same honor of participating.

Can you please get this message to the police officers and anyone else you think appropriate (especially Dave Leo, our "driver"). Thanks 

Mrs. Saros sums it up pretty well in her letter to the left... nothing comes closer to the reality of the suffering endured and the joy of  beating back this disease than a family story. 

Except maybe if you can see the joy in their eyes as they tell it, or the eyes of a researcher as she tells a tale of discovery and what it really means... 

Or the joy of meeting a young cancer combatant at the age of five whose hair is gone but whose eyes still sparkle with a profound intelligence... and then later meeting her again at the age of 12, cancer in remission, full head of hair and telling of the joyful Ride for Kids experiences...

Or tears in the eyes of some giant motorcyclist at our Celebration of Life ceremony...

Or the pride of the Police officers who return each year to help us along our way and receiving only our thanks as compensation...

Or the dedication of hundreds of volunteers and Task Force organizers who give part of themselves that day and all year just to help make it happen....

Or the perseverance of the Foundation staff and Scientific Advisory Board who make sure things happen - correctly...

Because of all of this, and The US Motorcyclists, The Foundation has made remarkable strides and attained International recognition as an organization making things happen, and was  chosen to host the International Brain Tumor Conference in NC this year.

Please review the Foundation pages to get a feel for the success you have fostered.

Still need a reason to ride with us?
Go look in the mirror.