FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 7, 2008
Alicia J. Becker, 716-845-1027 / cell: 912-0006

(BUFFALO, NY) The Roswell Park Alliance Community Advisory Board has named Terry Bourgeois, Christine Eberle, Mitch Flynn, John Hannon and Richard Suchan as co-chairs of The Ride For Roswell 2008.

The Ride is presented by Wegmans and wellness sponsor, Praxair. It will take place on Saturday, June 28, starting at the University at Buffalo’s (UB) Amherst campus, to benefit cancer research and patient care at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The event has raised over $6.4 million for Roswell Park Cancer Institute since its inception in 1996.

Terry Bourgeois, Director of Merchant Supply and Application Engineer for Praxair, Inc., has been named Event Support Chair for the 2008 Ride. Bourgeois has served as Praxair’s Ride team leader since 2002. The company was a top fundraising team last year, raising over $43,000.

Christine Eberle, co-owner of Eberle & Sciandra Communications, has been named Marketing Chair for the 2008 Ride. Eberle has assisted with marketing efforts for the Ride for the past two years. She is also a Ride virtual rider and volunteers on the day of the event.

Mitch Flynn, President of Flynn & Friends Advertising, founder of The Ride For Roswell, and a member of the Roswell Park Alliance Community Advisory Board since 1990, has been named Peloton (a new 13-mile ride) & Wellness Chair for this year’s Ride. Flynn is a past recipient of the Katherine Anne Gioia Award for his volunteer leadership at RPCI.

John Hannon, Senior Research Associate at DuPont™, a member of the Roswell Park Alliance Community Advisory Board since 2005 and a top Ride fundraiser, has been named Logistics Chair for the 2008 Ride. Hannon is a cancer survivor and was instrumental in the creation of The Lion’s Den interactive playroom in Roswell Park’s Pediatric Center.  

Richard Suchan, CEBS and 1st Vice President of First Niagara Bank and a member of the Roswell Park Alliance Community Advisory Board since 1995, has been named Fundraising Chair for the 2008 Ride. Suchan has been a Ride chair for the past three years and previously won the Katherine Anne Gioia Award for his volunteer leadership at Roswell Park.

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The Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, founded in 1991, is a not-for-profit organization formed to receive and administer funds supporting scientific and clinical research, state-of-the-art medical care, and patient-related activities at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.  Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and in China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or email askrpci@rpswellpark.org.