[Goose]

A good friend of mine lost her daughter two years ago to leukemia. Sasha was 7 years old at the time and just the cutest and most outgoing little girl you could ever meet. Her mom, Yuliya, is a Russian Jewish immigrant to this country, had gotten her citizenship not long before Sasha became ill. She studied English in Moscow, came here and entered law school and is now a corporate lawyer setting up multimillion dollar corporate mergers and such. How's that for a COMMIE?! Yuli is active in road racing as well as rides on the street and is HOT in a set of leathers!

Anyway, there is to be a leukemia foundation event at Sam Houston Raceway Park. The following post was placed concerning the ride over there on the Houston Sportbike Network board. This this is going to be sportbikes for the most part, ALL motorcycles will be welcomed! Yuli says the foundation was all agog about our participation and wanted to know of some of the kids could take little rides with us around the parking lot. The monies collected go to children's leukemia research. You can't spend a more important dollar that weekend!

Post from Yuliya:

"First of all, let me say that last year was amazing, and to see 50-something bikes and all these people to come and honor Sasha in such a special way meant the world to me. I've mentioned before that I would love to make Sasha's Ride an annual event, and I hope my HSN family will support me in that.

This year I would like to hold it in conjunction with Light the Night walk at Sam Houston Race Park organized by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society honoring patients, survivors and families of those touched by blood cancers, held on Saturday, October 15 at 6p.m., a week before what would have been Sasha's 9th birthday.

http://www.lightthenight.org/

I would like to ride from some central location, perhaps from the Emanu El Memorial Park again, to the event all together, and do the walk. I met with the president and the head of patient services of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Gulf Coast Chapter today and I cannot tell you how excited they were, especially if we could give rides around the parking lot to some of the kids who are patients or survivors there. They said it would mean a world to many of those kids and be a huge boost for everyone to see a caravan of bikes come to support.

They will have a blood donation station and a food drive; moreover, 30 cents from each dollar raised will go to support medical facilities providing healthcare to Katrina's victims.

I will set up a sign-up/contribution page for Sasha's Ride team and I was thinking that we should get some shirts made for the event too - what do you all think about setting it up through CafePress so you could get your own in whichever size you need?

In any case, please mark the date in your calendars - October 15th - and I would love to get any suggestions and thoughts from you.

Thank you again for all the support over the last year, it's been a difficult time for me and my family and I remind myself every day how lucky I am to have such an amazing support network..

Yuliya"

[Goose]

More info:

I would be honored if you would participate in Sasha's Ride and walk with us at the Light the Night! Here is what to do:

1. Go to http://www.active.com/donate/ltnHousto/sashasride and sign up as a participant. Select "Sasha's Ride" as your team or me as the captain (LLS asks that you try and raise a minimum of $25 to participate in the Walk instead of having everyone donate to one person, this way they can send thank you letters and do all the nice things for all those who participated).

2. If you can't make it to the walk on October 15th, feel free to donate on Light the Night's website to any member of Sasha's Ride team or to http://www.active.com/donate/ltnHousto/sashasride.

3. If you sign up as a fundraiser, send your fundraising link to everybody you know and don't be shy about asking for donations (I am really bad at asking people for money, so don't look at me for example.. lol).

4. If you just want to participate without being a fundraiser, give the Sasha's Ride link http://www.active.com/donate/ltnHousto/sashasride to as many people as you can!

5. We will meet to ride to the walk probably at 4 p.m. on October 15th, I am trying to arrange it that we can gather at Emanu El Memorial Park but if I do not get permission we'll set up an alternative spot. We need to be at the Sam Houston Greyhound Park by by 5.30 - 6pm, and you are all welcome to either ride/drive with us or meet us there. The Walk will start about 7 pm and we'll be done by about 9pm.

LLS has the highest 'return' on their research grants in terms of real success, and the research they fund (such as bone marrow transplant techniques, chemo protocols and many other breakthroughs) helps not only blood cancer patients but patients suffering from all other types of cancer and other diseases - this is why I feel we'll get the greatest bang for the buck by supporting the LLS!

Thank you all for your support! If you get the Sasha's Ride shirt, don't forget to wear it

Yuliya