Cancer touches nearly everyone.

We're going to do something about it and we need your help. Our team has registered for the Pan-Florida Challenge Cancer Ride and have committed to raising money to distribute nutritious cancer fighting food to hungry kids, to fund cancer prevention research and education programs, and to support cancer patients and their families.

Pan-Florida Challenge has long known that hunger greatly affects a child's performance and behavior in school. Studies also show that lack of nutrition or bad nutrition can drastically affect many aspects of health, including the risk of developing diseases like cancer. Pan-Florida Challenge recently expanded their mission to include cancer prevention so that even more people can be helped.

Consider these facts:

• According to the World Health Organization, maintaining a healthy diet and increasing physical activity is an important approach to cancer control.
• A cancer diagnosis can place undue financial burdens on patients and their families. Many patients and family care-givers need to alter their employment status, resulting in potential lost income and loss of insurance coverage.
• According to CancerCare, 70% of patients reported financial hardships because of cancer-related expenses. 50% of patients cut back on grocery expenses because they couldn't afford to buy food and pay for treatments.
• In just eight years, Pan-Florida Challenge has provided over eight million meals to hungry children, providing healthy buidling blocks for their futures.

This March, we will join hundreds of other riders who are all committed to fighting cancer. We will endure physical pain so we can help those in our community who need it the most. Just $25 will provide nutritious cancer fighting foods to a hungry child for a month. $100 will help sponsor education programs that teach healthy eating techniques.  Gifts of all sizes will support research and education at partner organizations including Moffitt Cancer Center and Cancer Alliance of Naples. Whatever you can give will help - it all adds up!

We can fight this - together. we thank you, and thousands of people in need will thank you, too.