'Put Me Through Pain': A Fmr. Morristown Man's Cancer Fundraiser

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Like many, Joe LaLiberte had a lot of time to think to himself early in the pandemic. That's when the former Morristown resident came up with a unique idea for raising money toward cancer.

For the second straight year, LaLiberte will ride his bike in a re-imagined route for the Pan-Mass Challenge — the nation's biggest athletic event for a single fundraiser, raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. But he put a creative twist on how he'll do it: for every $10 LaLiberte raises, he'll bike a mile.

"Put me through the pain and help me achieve my goal!" he wrote on his Pan-Mass Challenge page.

LaLiberte lived in Morristown for several years and taught at the Delbarton School, but he grew up in Needham, Massachusetts. He's lost many family and friends to cancer, and he didn't want the same to happen to his neighbor, Lisa Dutile.

"She was pretty much like a second or third mom to me," LaLiberte told Patch. " ... When I heard she had been diagnosed with cancer, it hit pretty close to home. She was another person in my life who had been affected by it and is still fighting and fighting really strong."

But the 25-year-old says Dutile is doing well. She's in treatment but in high spirits.

Typically, Pan-Mass Challenge riders pursue routes from 25 to 211 miles long, running through 47 Massachusetts towns. But cyclists can also take their own re-imagined routes.

Last year, LaLiberte rode about 218.8 miles in a week after raising $2,188.55. This year, he's going for 300. That means he needs the public's help to raise about $1,650 more to get to $3,000.

Click here to donate to LaLiberte's Pan-Mass Challenge fundraiser, or find a rider and donate to the Pan-Mass Challenge.

In 41 years, the Pan-Mass Challenge has raised $767 million for Dana-Farber. Six-thousand riders will participate in this year's event Aug. 7 and 8, including several Morris County residents:

• Cedar Knolls
  • Bruce Levy
    
  • Steven Rapp
    
• Madison
  • John Formica
  • Bill Johnson
    
• Mendham
  • Thomas Fuller
    
• Montville
  • Mike Kalfus
    
• Morristown
  • Brian Cove
    
  • Gregory Sauter
  • Carl Symecko
  • Brent Van Fossan
  • Per Sivertsson

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring our passionate PMC riders, volunteers, donors and sponsors back together in person for PMC Ride Weekend this year,” said Billy Starr, founder and executive director of the PMC. “With fully supported routes and re-imagined options, everyone can customize their PMC experience to join us in the fight against cancer. Cancer doesn’t stop for anything, even a global pandemic, and funding for research, treatment and care is as critical as ever.”

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