BOSTON – Shawmut participated in the 2018 Pan-Mass Challenge, marking the eleventh straight year the firm has participated in the two-day bike-a-thon. This year, Team Shawmut raised $200,000 and counting, accumulating more than $1,300,000 in total fundraising since the team’s inception. The money raised will directly support the research being conducted by Dana-Farber’s Dr. Christopher Sweeney, who rode with Team Shawmut for the fifth year in a row.
Once again, Team Shawmut drew a large group, including CEO Les Hiscoe, 32 Shawmut employees and friends, Dr. Sweeney, and three of his patients. The team rode from Sturbridge to Provincetown to increase awareness and funding for cancer research and patient care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Shawmut also sponsored the Brewster PMC water stop and staffed it with more than 25 passionate employee volunteers who cheered on the riders as they came through.
“It is always amazing to see the amount of support our team receives from fellow Shawmut employees and partners,” said Jim Scarpone, director at Shawmut Design and Construction and Team Shawmut captain. “I’m proud that with each year, the number of riders and volunteers continues to grow, showing that our commitment to community is inherent in our company culture.”
Team Shawmut has consistently raised more than $100,000 a year to support Dr. Sweeney’s efforts, enabling him to create a unique database of cancer specimens that allows his team to find the key causes of incurable cancer and to test a new drug designed to make standard therapies more effective.
“Team Shawmut’s donations have allowed us to leverage $8 million from foundations, the National Cancer Institute, and other research organizations, furthering our research efforts to learn from cancers that can be cured in order to adapt treatments for those that can’t,” said Dr. Sweeney. “Not only does Shawmut fundraise, but they create a community that provides support for their employees who are affected by cancer in one way or another, which is critical to helping lessen uncertainty and face challenges anyone of us may come up against."