CIGNA Falmouth Road Race exceeds $1.3 million raised for charities

The CIGNA Falmouth Road Race broke its fund-raising record by more than $300,000 at this year’s 36th running, raising $1.31 million for the 61 groups it supports with its “numbers-for-nonprofits” program. Each year the race directors provide guaranteed entries, exempt from the lottery and with an extended deadline and a discounted entry fee, to selected charities. The charities then offer the entries to runners, who solicit donations for the non-profit. More than 900 people participated in the program this year. Runners in the 2007 race raised $1.05 millions and the total for the past six years is more than $4.8 million. This year’s top fundraiser was Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston, with $160,225, followed by Compassionate Care ALS of North Falmouth, which received over $134,000, and Lymphoma Research Foundation at $121,000. The individual leaders were Jerry and Renee Trupiano of Rockport, with $40,175 for Compassionate Care ALS, and Matthew and Lori Sidman of Boston, who raised more than $40,000 for Dana-Farber. Cape-based non-profits did very well at this year’s race. In addition to Compassionate Care, 17 other local groups participated in the program, raising more than $240,000, up from $175,000 in 2007. The following Cape non-profits were involved: 300 Committee of Falmouth, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Cape and Island Special Olympics, Cape Cod Center for Women, Compassion Fund of Cape Cod, Dream Day on Cape Cod, Falmouth Commodores, Falmouth Community Television, Falmouth Service Center, Falmouth Veterans Council, Gosnold on Cape Cod, Matthew Houlihan Foundation, Police Athletic League of Cape Cod, Recovery Without Walls, Run2Rhimember, Wampanoag Home Run and Wings for Falmouth Families. Harold Kiley of Mashpee led all Cape runners with $11,191 for Dana-Farber, followed by Ariana Kerrigan of Falmouth, with $6,000 for Children’s Tumor Foundation. East Falmouth’s Jay Canute, a stroke survivor, raised $2,380 for the American Stroke Association, and Christy Lynch of East Falmouth and Jon Ledwick, Falmouth, pitched in $2,000 and $1,560, respectively for Dana-Farber. Patricia McPherson of Pocasset raised $1,780 for Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and Warren Dalton added $1,385 for Falmouth Veterans Council. Almost 200 Cape runners ran for one of the charities. Other leading groups included Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, $95,000; Ronald McDonald House of Boston, $80,240; American Stroke Association/Teddy's Team, $76,000; Children's Hospital Boston, $72,523; and Joslin Diabetes Center, $42,139. In addition to the money raised by runners, the race made direct donations to more than 25 local non-profits and sports teams. Information about the nonprofit groups in the program is listed on the web at http://www.falmouthroadrace.com/guaranteed-entries.