Nineteen years ago I received a telephone call. "Your sister went in for an eye exam; they found a brain tumor and rushed her to surgery to remove it." After a long and hard-fought recovery, she's now cancer free and busy working and raising her three kids, but it was quite a scary time for all of us, especially her.

Fast forward to 2004, when I was looking for some kind of charity ride to join and saw a poster for the Pittsburgh Ride for Kids. The Ride for Kids, www.rideforkids.org is a series of rides all around the country that raise money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, the largest nongovernmental funding source for brain tumor research in the country. Since the first Ride for Kids in 1984, more than $40 million has been raised for pediatric brain tumor research, and 2008 alone saw a record $5.2 million.

Even if it weren't for such a good cause, the ride would still be worth participating in. The route is a beautiful winding path from Cranberry to Slippery Rock with a full police escort and the Blue Knights blocking the side streets. There's something to be said for a nice ride with 400 of your closest riding buddies, and the sound of all those bikes echoing back off of the buildings in downtown Zelienople is something to be heard. It is an extremely well-organized ride, and organizers provide breakfast and coffee at the start, as well as lunch at the end.

It's actually the end of the ride that is most rewarding. A Celebration of Life program features current patients and survivors, the Ride for Kids Stars, who ride along in sidecars and trikes, and then take the stage to tell their stories and how much they've benefited from the fundraising efforts of the riders. It's rare at this point to see a dry eye in a tent full of tough but caring bikers.

They also recognize the top five individual fundraisers and the top five fundraising clubs. There are great premiums to recognize individual fundraising efforts, ranging from pins to T-shirts and hats to some very nice jackets.

Once the program is over, the final total, usually $50,000 to almost $70,000 just in Pittsburgh, is announced and everyone heads out with a feeling that they have made a difference in the lives of people who really need it.

I originally joined the ride thinking of my sister, but shortly after I started participating, we found out that my4-month old cousin was diagnosed with an inoperable Optic Glioma brain tumor. The doctors offered very little hope that he would even make it to 6 months old. Thanks to advances in treatment funded by this and similar programs, he's now 4 years old and quite a brave and strong young boy.

The Pittsburgh Ride for Kids will be held Aug. 9, but the good feelings that you get inside will last all year.

The ride begins at the Home Depot, 25 Dutilh Road, Cranberry. Registration opens at 8 and closes at 9:45 a.m. The escorted ride starts at 10 a.m. rain or shine. The minimum donation to ride is $35, but the more money riders raise, the more premiums they earn. For each $300 raised, the rider's name will be entered into a drawing for a brand-new Honda motorcycle. For more information, call 800-253-6530 or go to http://www.pbtfus.org/rideforkids/