ROCHESTER — After raising over $42,000 for cancer research and treatment, nearly 200 youth riders mounted bikes, tricycles and scooters to participate in the Cranberry Country Pan-Mass Challenge Kids Bike Ride on Sunday, June 22.

The annual youth bike ride garners donations for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a pediatric and adult cancer research and treatment center located in Boston. 

“For a weekend, you see nothing but the best in people,” said Bill Goldsmith, co-coordinator of the event and a Pan-Mass Challenge rider for 16 years. He anticipates that the bike ride will earn over $45,000 in donations before their deadline of September 1.

Goldsmith and his wife Lisa have coordinated the cranberry country kids ride since 2015, and were inspired by Goldsmith’s mother who was a patient at the Dana-Farber Institute.

“I saw the care that she received and how kind the people were and how knowledgeable everyone was and so I was looking for some way to give back,” he said.

Prior to the bike ride at Old Colony Regional Technical Vocational High School, South Coast mothers shared their experiences with the Dana-Farber Institute.

Middleborough resident Christina Lane and her son Sam were both diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and 2023, and each of them received treatment at the institute’s adult and pediatric wards.

“I’m so incredibly grateful and blessed to say that Dana-Farber is where Sam and I not only battled but beat cancer over the last three years,” she said.

Lane expressed her admiration for her son’s strength, stating that “Sam has never once been afraid. He has never complained. He is the strongest superhero I know. His strength is awe-inspiring.’

When Sam’s friends asked him what he would do if he got cancer again, he said without hesitation, “I’ll beat it again.”

Rochester resident Jennifer Jones spoke about her daughter Vivian’s experiences receiving treatment at the pediatric Jimmy Fund Clinic in the Dana-Farber Institute. Vivian is a fifth grade student at Rochester Memorial School.

“We’ve met people from all over the world. I’ve sat recently next to a family [that] had flown over 12 hours to get to the clinic,” she said. “We are so, so fortunate to be able to be so close to our clinic, right here, just an hour away.”

She expressed gratitude for the community support her family has received.

“Our community has gone above and beyond. I’ve never seen anything like it. Rochester Memorial School, all of our teachers, all of our besties,” said Jones.

Kinsley Weiner, a 10-year-old Rochester resident and bike ride participant, said she joined the event because “I love helping people and because my grandmother has cancer.”

Twelve-year-old Rochester resident Eli Linane said, “I’ve done it for six years, and the fact that just doing something as simple as riding your bike is helping people [is] why I participate, to try and help people who have cancer.”

Goldsmith hopes that the event will empower children to take action and make a difference in their community.

“One of the things I tell the kids is, ‘I don’t care how old you are, how big you are, how strong you are — if you choose to make a difference, you can make a difference right here, right now.’ You don’t have to wait to be a grown up,” he said.