IMPACT MELANOMA’S “PRACTICE SAFE SKIN” PROGRAM TO PROVIDE FREE SUNSCREEN ALONG PAN-MASS CHALLENGE ROUTE
Boston, MA (July 25, 2018) – IMPACT Melanoma, a national non-profit organization dedicated to working to reduce the incidence of melanoma, is providing free sunscreen dispensers to the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) for cyclists, volunteers and public bystander use during the August 4 and 5 ride weekend festivities. The dispensers are the lynchpin sun safety solution provided as part of the nonprofit’s Practice Safe Skin program.
“We’re grateful that IMPACT Melanoma is extending their efforts this year to help protect our riders, volunteers, and supporters from the sun by making sunscreen easily accessible along the route during PMC ride weekend,” said Glynn Hawley, PMC Director of Logistics and Provisions.
The Bright Guard dispensers will be placed at the event’s lunch stop in Dighton-Rehoboth on Saturday, where thousands of PMC riders will stop on their way to Mass-Maritime Academy on August 4.
“We are always willing and eager to extend our programs here at IMPACT Melanoma and to provide such an amazing community driven event with sunscreen,” said Deb Girard, Executive Director, IMPACT Melanoma. “Where there’s UV rays beating down, there needs to be one of our Bright Guard sun dispensers available to combat them. We’re so proud to be involved in the Pan-Mass Challenge once again.”
The specially designed dispensers are being purchased and installed across the country at an ever-increasing rate. As more and more communities adopt them as a means of their sun safety care initiatives, the word-of-mouth permeating from each install is at a feverous pitch – enhancing their overall popularity due to the mission they serve and ease-of-use at an operative standpoint. They are part of Practice Safe Skin, a program that offers sunscreen as an effective preventive measure to help avoid sun over-exposure year-round. Each sunscreen dispenser is equipped with four 1000 mL bags of sunscreen SPF-30 sunscreen, Broad Spectrum UVA/UVB Aquatic and Marine safe, appropriate for people aged 6-months and up. Ingredients are printed on the machines upon installation.
A recent study from The University of Colorado cited this program as an influencing force behind the decrease in melanoma rates in the Northeast. Melanoma is rising faster than any other cancer with one person every 50 minutes dying from the disease. Studies show that with daily sunscreen protection, the risk of melanoma is preventable. Blue Cross Blue Shield recently released a report dealing with the rising rates of skin cancer incidences around the country which you can get more information about right here. They broke it down state-by-state.
Pan-Mass Challenge cyclists are on their bikes for extended periods of time as they ride up to 192 miles across Massachusetts. IMPACT Melanoma will provide education and a place for cyclists to reapply sunscreen every couple of hours.
The PMC is the single nation’s most successful athletic fundraising event, raising and contributing more money to charity than any other. Set for August 4 and 5, the PMC will draw more than 6,300 cyclists and 4,000 volunteers to the two-day bike-a-thon. Together, they will work to raise a record goal of $52 million for adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. One hundred percent of every rider-raised dollar goes directly to the cause. Since its inception in 1980, the PMC has contributed more than $598 million dollars to Dana-Farber.
