Ryan Mahan (left) and his father, Tom during the 2017 Pan Mass Challenge. (Photo submitted by Ryan Mahan)
WESTFIELD- A Westfield native will host a fundraising event at his East Mountain View Road home on Saturday, July 27 beginning at 12:30 p.m. to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for the Pan Mass Challenge (PMC).
Ryan Mahan is inviting people to attend the fundraiser that his family holds annually at 1750 East Mountain View Road. Mahan will be taking part in the Pan Mass Challenge for the seventh time on Aug. 3-4.
The fundraiser will come mainly in the form of a large raffle drawing. Mahan said that each year they solicit raffle prizes from family and friends to present at the event. Prizes include power tool sets, Red Sox tickets, restaurant gift certificates, Pelican Coolers and a road bike, among other things. He added that more prizes keep trickling in.
“We have grand prize raffle tickets which are $5 each and have been sold prior to, and during the event,” said Mahan, “This allows people who can’t make the fundraiser be able to donate and possibly win something. We do the drawing for this on Sunday and notify winners by phone in the order they were pulled.”
He added that they usually have between two and three grand prizes. At the fundraiser itself, a sheet of 25 tickets is $20. Those tickets can be used for the other regular prizes that will be available.
Mahan’s involvement with the PMC and the fundraiser began because his father, Tom Mahan, was a Dana Farber Cancer Institute patient. Tom Mahan was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer that attacks bone marrow and affects the body’s ability to make blood cells and antibodies. Tom Mahan will also be riding in the PMC with Mahan as he has for years.
The Saturday fundraiser is just one part of the Mahan’s efforts to raise money for Dana Farber. When one commits to going on the ride, they also commit to raising a certain amount of money. In Mahan’s case, he is trying to raise the $5,000 commitment for this year’s ride.
Mahan and his family will be riding the 192-mile portion of the PMC that goes from Sturbridge to the Mass Maritime Academy in Bourne on the first day. On the second day, the riders will go from Bourne to Provincetown.
