Hi All,
I just received the note below concerning a charity bicycle ride to create public awareness for a devastating childhood disease (Neuroblastoma). Looks to me like a sincere request that we welcome the riders as they arrive at Gateway Park this Saturday AM. I pass it along.
Mark Antell

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Dear Mr. Antell,

First, allow me to apologize for the very last minute nature of this plea. Even though I realize the impracticality of you being able to share this information with your neighbors in time – never mind them even being available – I hope you will agree that the risk is well worth the shot.

There is a group of fathers of children with a rare and aggressive cancer cycling across the country to raise money for a promising treatment. As the cancer is rare, raising the money for the therapy research is really the only hope for advances. The campaign is called the Loneliest Road (www.loneliestroad.org) after Route 50, but in fact, the road has been quite lonely – they are well short of their fundraising goal and, moreover, not many people know of their campaign, or that their cross-country journey ends in Arlington this coming Saturday, Sept. 29th at 11 am in Gateway Park.

In fact, it was just this past weekend that I learned of this campaign and that their route would terminate in Arlington. So, with just a week to go, I have been working with some other olunteers to try to ensure that the "homecoming" event planned for them is warm and that they are not alone when they are in our community.

Seeing that your neighborhood association is one of the closest to Gateway Park, I thought that your neighbors would be most likely to be out and about on Saturday afternoon and might be interested in welcoming these men into the neighborhood. As a proud Arlingtonian, I am happy to report that with very short notice even one of our County Board members – Barbara Favola – has accepted our invitation. I am hoping that some of the folks in the North Rosslyn Civic Association might want to cheer them on if they see the cyclist on the road and/or stop by to show support to these men and their families, ensuring that Arlington rallies on short notice to serve as a good host.

Thank you, in advance, for any assistance you can provide for spreading the word. I really just want Arlington to try and provide the most welcoming and congratulatory environment for these men who tried so hard to reach an mbitious and admirable goal. I appreciate any consideration you may be able to give this request to share the invitation to Saturday's event.

Please feel free to email me or call (703-966-9690) if you have any questions or need additional information.


Sincerely,

Elizabeth Stasiak Perry