Pan-Mass Challenge Kids Ride to honor deceased Rochester girl

ROCHESTER — Every year, Bill Goldsmith gathers kids of all ages to join a Pan-Mass Challenge kids ride to raise money for cancer research. This year, the ride will raise money in memory of a Rochester girl who died from cancer in August 2025.

The 2026 Cranberry Country Pan-Mass Challenge, to be held Sunday, June 14 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., will honor Vivian Jones and raise funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Goldsmith visits schools in the area to encourage kids to sign up for the ride, which is the culmination of their fundraising efforts. Rochester Memorial School, where Vivian attended, was among the schools Goldsmith went to recruit riders.

“When you ride, you carry her (Vivian) with you, and you ride for every family who needs the same help that she needed,” he told students. “That's a powerful thing.”

Vivian’s sister Everly and mother Jennifer will be at this year’s ride, and Everly will ride in her sister’s memory.

Both sisters rode in past years, and Goldsmith said Everly continues to ride because she wants to make sure other families don’t have to go through what hers did. 

“She would love to have her sister back, but the next best thing is making sure that no other family has to watch someone they love get sick,” he said during a presentation at Rochester Memorial School.

Goldsmith said he began fundraising for cancer research after he lost his mother to cancer, and has ridden in the adult Pan-Mass Challenge for years. He began the Rochester ride in 2015, and said it’s a way for him to expand his fundraising capabilities. 

While on his own he can raise a few thousand dollars a year, he said each kids ride typically raises between $45,000 to $50,000. 

“I can have a much bigger impact doing this ride, going out to schools and talking,” he said.