2024 - Great Cycle Challenge
This will be my 6th year taking part in this very worthy cause. With the help and generous donations from all of my awesome sponsors over those years we have been able to raise/contribute over $8869.00 towards this great ride in support of Kids Cancer.......
This year’s ride for me will be dedicated to Ethan Hunter, a Chatham boy who along with his sister Sephora & brother Meyer attended in my daycare for 3 years. Their parents Darryl & Shara Hunter have remained friends of ours as well as many of our former daycare families. We see them occasionally and keep in touch with them. In my lifetime I have personally known 3 children who suffered and endured the effects of this horrible disease.
My own brother Perry suffered and endured this at age 17 for several years until he was able to 'beat' it only to die at age 34 partly due to the damage his body had been through from the treatments (eg. removal of his spleen which helps your body fight infection but it would help to spread this disease too if not removed),
Also my first cousins' son Adrien who began his struggle from age 2 who with lots of prayers, treatment & love was able to survive and is still living & enjoying life at age 33.
And then there is Ethan, one of my former daycare children who began his fight and struggle from age 14. Then last August at age 16 he was declared to be in remission at the end of the 2023 Challenge and celebrated his 16th birthday in August at the end of the challenge!! In celebration of his remission and his birthday I rode across Chatham to visit him for love & hugs & celebration!!! ………. but then update…… this past week I got a phone call from his Mom Shara and very sadly his Cancer has returned and he is currently in treatment in Victoria Hospital in London in the fight for his life again!!!
With the help, love, prayers from all of you and all of his family & friends, we can make a difference for him and his family. With the help from all of us we can all contribute in some way to help Ethan and these other children and future children to beat this sickness, get through it and get back to being a kid and enjoying life with their family & friends. And since we all have known many family members & friends who have lived through cancer or died as a result of it, I'd like to think that the help and treatments and research from both the children & adult sectors will be used & shared to help them beat cancer. As a result of all the research & treatment, many cancers have been beaten and as a result there are many survivors that many of us know gain many more years of life!!!
I'd like to thank everyone who have supported me, helped me, and contributed to this Great Cycle Challenge with me and will appreciate those who get on board with me this year. I also recognize those who have been with me and in this since the beginning and those who have been in and out and are still being so generous to this worthy cause to help others during this event. I am looking forward to this year’s challenge which for the biking portion begins August 1st but I am able to start raising money towards the Challenge now so that I can then concentrate more of my time & efforts for getting my biking in each day.
I am currently setting my ride goal at 400 Km and I’d like to try to raise $2500.00 again this year!!! All of this takes time for me so I appreciate all of you so much!!! Thanks Everyone for your time & attention!!!!!
Love Cheryl XOXOXOXOXOXO