Friends and family:

Since our ride last year, my father has beaten cancer to much triumph. But not long after, my closest friend's father has been diagnosed after having beaten his first battle with cancer many years ago. The cancer has come back, but his resolve to beat the disease never went anywhere.

Since it's inception in 2009, the Ride to Conquer Cancer from Vancouver to Seattle has raised over $27.2 million. We may not have conquered cancer, but we've certainly weakened its grasp.

Many of you have been touched personally by cancer; all of us will be. If you've been treated or visited someone being treated at the BC Cancer Agency, you know just how good of a job they do. All the money raised has gone to work right here in our community at the BC Cancer Foundation to help those who are diagnosed put Cancer behind them. Some of the things your donations have gone towards:

 - A second, state-of-the-art PET/CT scanner was purchased and the existing scanner was upgraded to a newer model. Wait times have been reduced and the number of patients able to receive these life-saving scans has more than doubled.
-Pediatric Genome Sequencing Project - Sequencing of cancer genomes, searching for more effective treatments to improve and extend the lives of the youngest cancer patients.
- ANGELYC (Analysis of Genomes to Eliminate Lymphoid Cancer) Project Identify a number of possible cancer biomarkers.
- Ovarian Cancer Research (OvCaRe) Program Multidisciplinary research program - Major research discoveries in recent years have already improved the knowledge, diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancers in B.C.
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Sequencing Project Genomic sequencing of AML tumours, with the hope of providing information that will lead to improved treatments for AML patients.

Since my first time participating in the Ride two years ago, I have been in awe of the support you have shown me and my team as we fundraise for the BC Cancer Foundation. Last year you and I raised $11,645. Our team, the Knight Riders, raised $77,763. These are real numbers, making a real difference - and we're doing it again.

Please, help me in achieving my goal of raising $10,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation this year. Your support means a lot to me.

Thanks for your support!