Last September I joined about 100 other cyclists to ride 62 miles in the pouring rain for an important and worthy cause. Together we raised more than $50,000 to build a women's community center in the Dragon Valley of Afghanistan under the auspices of Beyond the 11th.

As I wrote last year, I don't like asking others to make donations to charity. But, I am making an exception in this case again this year because I know the two remarkable women who started this organization -- Beyond the 11th -- and because their lives and life stories ought to be an inspiration for all of us.

 

Susan Retik of Needham and Patti Quigley of Wellesley were both pregnant young mothers when their husbands boarded flights in Boston on the morning of September 11, 2001. Neither saw her husband again.

When they first met, after 9/11, Susan and Patti found in each other a common determination to turn their own grief and loss into a force for good. They founded Beyond the 11th to help other women who had lost husbands to war and terrorism...in Afghanistan, where the plot that killed their husbands was hatched! To raise money for their fledgling organization, Susan and Patti began marking the anniversary of 9/11 by cycling from Ground Zero in Manhattan back to Boston, in essence reversing the ill-fated course their husbands flew on that terrible day.

Anyone who knows these two women will testify that they possess a resiliency and compassion that is absolutely breathtaking. They have traveled to Afghanistan to see first hand the projects Beyond the 11th supports, programs that are helping Afghan war widows keep their families and their lives together and, not incidentally, showing that Americans can bring more than war to their country.

Last year I was able to raise more than $2500 for this great cause. Please join me this year as we raise money to build another women's community center in war ravaged Afghanistan, a safe place where women can find community, clean water and classrooms.

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.

Many thanks for your support -- and please forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!