Ride Hard Breathe Easy, a Cheltenham-based lung cancer nonprofit, was recently featured by CBS News for participating in a nationwide online Peloton distance event on Sunday, April 21 called PeloFondo.
The money raised directly benefits patients at Fox Chase, Temple Health, Crozer Health, Jefferson Health, Penn Medicine – Abramson Cancer Center, Duke Cancer Institute, and Dartmouth Cancer Center, according to the nonprofit.
Lisa Etkins, a social worker from Fox Chase, has been taking part in the ride since 2021 and has helped the event raise over $34,000 during that time period.
She will be riding Sunday’s 100-mile race with Ride Hard Breathe Easy to help patients like Foy Staley, a retired teacher who has stage 4 lung cancer.
“It’s quite a battle. I would say that the thing that really affects me the most is the breathing,” Staley told CBS.
Staley noted that the nonprofit “supports patients for offsetting costs for groceries and utility bills and helping with transportation.”
“They’ve been a tremendous resource for me. Big help financially, helping me with gas cards, helping me with paying bills that I can’t afford right now because I’m going through so much,” Staley said.
For CBS’ video coverage, you can watch below:
Beyond the peloton ride, Ride Hard Breathe Easy annually hosts a golf outing in June and a 425-mile bike ride in September.
For more on the event, you can click here. To make a donation, you can click here.
About Ride Hard Breathe Easy
Ride Hard Breathe Easy (RHBE) was founded by John Matthews after the death of his beloved mother to lung cancer in 2011. The idea began in 2017 as a cross-country bike ride to raise money and awareness and two years later RHBE became a nonprofit organization that has helped hundreds of patients and caregivers dealing with the financial stress of a lung cancer diagnosis. RHBE partners with Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Lung Center, Duke Cancer Institute, Einstein Medical Center, Lung Health Services, Crozer Health, Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, and Dartmouth Cancer Institute to support their lung cancer patients.
For more on RHBE, you can visit their Facebook page.
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Screengrab: CBS