Prouty Cancer Fundraiser Celebrates their 37th Year.

LEBANON, NH (June 20, 2018) - The 37th annual Prouty is coming to Hanover on July 13-14, and organizers are working to surpass the $3.1 million dollars raised last year for cancer research and patient supportive services. The signature event of the Friends of Norris Cotton Cancer Center (FNCCC), The Prouty™ is New Hampshire's largest charity fundraiser. It began in 1982 when four Dartmouth-Hitchcock nurses rode their bikes 100 miles through the White Mountains to honor an inspiring cancer patient, Audrey Prouty. Today the event has grown to a two-day collection of athletic events including cycling, walking, rowing, and golf.

For the fourth year in a row, the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation is helping to achieve the goal by providing a generous match for participants.

The 37th annual Prouty is coming to Hanover on July 13-14, 2018.

The Byrne Foundation funds charitable needs throughout the communities in the Upper Connecticut River Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont.

Organized by FNCCC the Prouty weekend now draws more than 4,000 participants and 1,200 volunteers each year, with additional participants climbing mountains or creating their own "Virtual Prouty" on a bike, on a trip, or in an arm chair. This year, The Prouty will feature a part-gravel, 64-mile (metric century) ride. Money raised by participants of The Prouty helps to fund innovative cancer research and crucial patient services that help patients and their families every day.

This year The Prouty Honorary Co-chairs are:

Scott Gerber, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular and Systems Biology at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and co-Leader of the Cancer Mechanisms basic science research program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center whose current work on proteins (proteomics) has been funded by Prouty grants and have lead to major federal funding.

Merle Schotanus, retired U.S. Army Airborne Infantry Officer and two-time cancer survivor. Merle first cycled The Prouty in 2006 at the suggestion of his daughter. He was so impressed with The Prouty and its energy for fighting cancer that he started a Prouty team in Grantham -the Grantham Mountaineers-in 2008. That first year, his team had 10 members and raised $5,000. In 2017, the team celebrated its 10th anniversary with 66 members and raised over $111,000. In 2015, Merle successfully cycled what he calls the "Octogenarian 20," just eight months after lung surgery, using portable oxygen and riding an electric assist bicycle.

For information on how to form a team and donate to The Prouty, please visit the event website.

Steven D. Leach, MD, the director of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, participated in The Prouty even before he started work. He is looking forward to participating in his second Prouty.

"The money raised by The Prouty provides nearly 50% of our discretionary cancer center budget," says Leach. "It makes our research and patient supportive services possible. When we reviewed the statistics for Prouty pilot projects (small grants given to fund innovative research ideas) we discovered that for every dollar invested, over time we received $23 in additional funding from outside sources. That's an incredible return on the investment our community makes in itself through the Prouty, and a testament to the creativity and high impact of our science. It is all made possible by our participants and their commitment to putting an end to cancer."

Ninety cents of every dollar raised by The Prouty goes directly to support patient supportive services and cancer research at NCCC, one of just 49 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation and the only NCI-designated center and the only one north of Boston and east of Buffalo. The center significantly impacts the health of a largely rural and often underserved population, providing outstanding services to people in need.

Over the past 37 years, more than $33 million has been raised through The Prouty to support cancer research.

Cycle, walk, row, or golf for cancer research.

(Walking photo by Jim Mauchly, rowing photo by Sarah Nelson.)

Posted 6/20/18

37th Annual Prouty