Norwalk, CT The William Raveis Charitable Fund (WRCF) will host the fourth annual William Raveis Ride + Walk Connecticut, benefiting the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, on Sunday, September 30 at Calf Pasture Beach from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. This family and community fundraising event includes a 5K walk, a 12-mile, 25-mile and 50-mile bike ride, and a children’s 100-yard dash. Following the walk, rides and dash, there will be food, music and kids’ activities. Online registration opens May 8. Registration is free for three weeks only from May 8 through May 29.

 “We’re excited for our fourth annual event, which we expect to be bigger and more impactful than ever,” said Meghan Raveis, the managing director of the WRCF. “The researchers we fund are truly making a difference in cancer research and expect to find a cure in our lifetime. Our community, who has almost all been touched by cancer in some way, has truly embraced this event, and we expect to raise even more money this year.”

One hundred percent of the donations will go to the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Damon Runyon identifies the brightest early-career scientists with innovative research ideas and provides them with funding to pursue new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat all forms of cancer. In 2017, more than 700 people participated and volunteered in the inaugural Ride + Walk, raising more than $519,000. 

With this money raised, the William Raveis Charitable Fund is funding four innovative scientists: 

• Joshua Brody, M.D., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is aiming to develop an new treatment for advanced stage lymphoma; 

• Vinod Balachandran, M.D., of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is focused on understanding unique cancer proteins in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer, with the goal of developing new immunotherapies to treat all patients with the disease;

• Megan Insco, M.D., PhD,. of Boston Children’s Hospital, is researching whether proteins could be an effective drug target in advanced melanoma; and 

• Adrienne Boire, M.D., Ph.D, of Memorial Sloan Kettering is focused on the spread of cancer cells into the spinal fluid.

William Raveis Charitable Fund has raised more than $1.5 million since its inception. The money has been granted to 14 scientists who are researching eight different types of cancer. Since 1946, Damon Runyon has invested more than $340 million in more than 3,650 exceptional scientists.

Participants can register for the event, starting on May 8, at raveisridewalk.com. The web site also includes fundraising tips and tools, information about the scientists, and photos and video from 2017. The minimum fundraising amount for adults is $250 for the walk, 12-mile and 25-mile rides and $400 for the 50-mile ride. Minors under 17 must be accompanied by an adult and have a $25 fundraising minimum.