For each of the last nine years, the LIVESTRONG Foundation has invited my brother and me to Austin, Texas to participate in its annual Ride for the Roses Weekend in appreciation for the funds that we have raised for this leading cancer charity - funds totalling more than $270,000 to date. In recent years, Abbey Barron, an experienced oncology nurse who happens to be my brother's girlfriend, has joined us both socially and on the bike. While we truly appreciate the Texan hospitality, meeting and collaborating with our fellow cancer haters is what brings us back year after year.
It was at the Ride for the Roses where I met Mark Garza, founder of the Flatwater Foundation, which funds and facilitates more than $40,000 in free mental health services to family facing a cancer diagnosis. We continue to work with Mark and his team to make Philadelphia the third city in which the foundation fulfills this important unmet need.
A few years ago, Spencer Lueders and Michael Walsh set the Ride for the Roses 100 mile course record on a punishing day on the bike. Since then, we've not only admired Spencer's athletic prowess, but the incredible philanthropic success that 24 Hours of Booty, a series of 24 hour cycling events benefiting local cancer charities that he founded, continues to experience. Raising nearly $1.7 million in Charlotte this summer alone, Spencer and his incredible team are looking to raise $100 million in his lifetime. We know that they can do it!
Finally, we're thankful to have met Ron Hamner and David Goodall, our cancer-hating brothers and founders of Grab My Wheel, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based charity whose all-women cycling event funds a number of cancer causes in the Triangle. They also generously manage Team I Hate Cancer's finances, saving us more than $5,000 annually and allowing us to focus on fundraising.
We're thankful to LIVESTRONG for the opportunity to support their cancer survivorship programs and continued advocacy for cancer survivors, including its leadership role in Vice President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative. But we're really thankful for the opportunity to have met so many fellow cancer haters that inspire and influence our work everyday.