In 1984, a motorcyclist and newspaper executive by the name of Mike Traynor had a very close friend whose child died of a brain tumor. After watching the death of this child, and learning about the plight of thousands of other children stricken with this type of cancer, Mike set out to raise money to find the cause and cure of pediatric brain tumors. He organized a ride in Atlanta, Georgia. 100 motorcyclists attended that event, and they raised $4,000. That ride was later to become known as the first Ride for Kids.

The second Ride for Kids was held in Chicago in 1989, and Mike left his career behind in 1992 to devote his full time attention to organizing Ride for Kids events across the country. And thus, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) was born.

Since 1984, motorcyclists have raised over 49 million dollars through Ride for Kids events to support the PBTF in their mission to find the cause and cure of pediatric brain tumors. The PBTF is the largest funding agency in the world for pediatric brain tumor research, outside of the U.S. Government.

When the first Ride for Kids event was held in 1984, the diagnosis of a pediatric brain tumor was a death sentence. Today, a child under the age of 2 years who is diagnosed with a brain tumor has a 90% chance of survival. In fact, the PBTF has awarded 397 college scholarships to brain tumor survivors!

To learn more about the Ride for Kids program, please visit www.rideforkids.org

To learn more about the PBTF, please visit www.pbtfus.org

Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer deaths in children under the age of fifteen, and for young adults up to the age of thirty-four. 3,400 children are diagnosed with a brain tumor every year. 1,360 of them will die within 5 years.

Your tax-deductible donation to my fund raising efforts will fund the development of new therapies that will extend the lives of children with brain tumors, and will ultimately lead to the discovery of the cause and cure of pediatric brain tumors.

Last year, I raised over $20,000 thanks to wonderful people like you, and I would love to top that amount this year.

And now, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. I am so committed to this cause, that I will match every donation made through this web page, dollar for dollar.

I'd love to see the thermometer at the top of this page exceed 100% and explode! Come on! We can do it!