2 Mendham Residents Are Bicycling In Pan-Mass Challenge

MENDHAM, NJ — One Mendham and one Brookside resident are among 52 New Jerseyans who are planning to ride in the 2021 Pan-Mass Challenge on Aug. 7 and 8.

The riders will be cycling in Massachusetts over the two days to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Thomas Fuller of Mendham and Laura Vigilante of Brookside are the two Mendham area residents taking part in the event, which has 16 different routes, spanning between 25 and 211 miles.

Fuller, who has a $10,000 goal with $625 raised as of July 21, wrote on his fundraising page that he’s ridden over 3,500 miles in his 18 Pan-Mass Challenges.

“I am still training and I will be riding my own PMC in honor of all those close to me who are fighting or have lost the battle to cancer,” Fuller wrote.

See Fuller’s donation page here.

Vigilante, who has reached her goal of $6,000 as of July 21 and is the Team Captain of “Team Beans,” said she rides in memory of Francesca “Beans” Kaczynski, a nine-month-old who battled a rare brain tumor. Kaczynski, who received cancer care at Dana-Farber, died on Christmas Eve 2020 from an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor, which can be aggressive in infants.

See Vigilante’s donation page here.

Every dollar that riders raise goes to Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund, with the Pan-Mass Challenge raising 64 percent of the fund’s yearly monies, according to a news release from PMC.

There are over 6,000 riders from 47 states and 11 countries participating in the PMC in 2021.

During the summer of 2020, there was more than $50 million raised with PMC’s “Reimagined” campaign.

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring our passionate PMC riders, volunteers, donors and sponsors back together in person for PMC Ride Weekend this year,” said Billy Starr, PMC’s founder and executive director.

“With fully supported routes and Reimagined options, everyone can customize their PMC experience to join us in the fight against cancer,” Starr added.

“Cancer doesn’t stop for anything, even a global pandemic, and funding for research, treatment and care is as critical as ever,” he said.

To date, PMC has donated $767 million to Dana-Farber over the last 41 years.

All of New Jersey’s riders are listed below, in their individual towns:

• Allendale - Cheryl Rubin
• Asbury - Todd Hengerer
• Avalon - Walter Locke
• Basking Ridge - Brett Anders, Seldon Clarke
• Brookside - Laura Vigilante
• Califon - Eric Schlauch
• Cedar Knolls - Bruce Levy
• Steven Rapp - Edison, Richard Hoffman
• Glen Rock - Frank Gaul
• Hoboken - Anders Conrad, Debbie Jacobus, Elizabeth Palmer
• Jersey City - Caroline Petner
• Lawrence Township - Dorothy Vaughan, Kyle Hammerschmidt, Stephen Murray
• Madison - John Formica, Bill Johnson
• Manasquan - Jeffrey Brown, Nicholas Papa
• Mendham - Thomas Fuller
• Montclair - Margo Walter
• Montville - Mike Kalfus
• Morristown - Brian Cove, Gregory Sauter, Carl Symecko, Brent Van Fossan, Per Sivertsson
• New Providence - Carl Bagish
• Oakland - Nicole Aubuchon
• Park Ridge - Kathy Mccullough-Widmer
• Princeton - Lauren Ullmann
• Ridgewood - Dan Lafrance, Paul Mckeon
• Saddle River - Frederick Barney
• Scotch Plains - James Chitty, Joseph Hesson
• Short Hills -Ben Campbell, Brett Cohen
• Springfield -David Ehrlich, Scott Kessel
• Summit - Fiona Bowen, Mark Brenner, Michael Cornell, Jerry Strabley, Terry Thompson
• Wayne - Ashley Montesano
• West Orange - Linda Sterling
• Westmont -Kevin Nowak
• Whitehouse Station - Bob Schoenfeld

To make a financial contribution to a rider or to register as one, visit www.pmc.org, or call (800) WE-CYCLE. Find #PMC2021 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.