Month: January 2022

What To Expect: Ride Season 2022

Posted on by Michelle ostrander

The 2022 Ride for Roswell is Saturday, June 25 at the University at Buffalo. But that’s just one of the many exciting things we have happening this Ride season!

When you make the decision to be part of the Ride community, you are committing to making a difference in the lives of cancer patients. This year, we have eight routes all starting and ending at the University at Buffalo.* Routes for riders of all ages and skill levels include:

  • 3-mile family fun
  • 10-mile river route
  • 20-mile river route
  • 30-mile river route
  • 34-mile country route
  • 45-mile country route
  • 65-mile country route
  • 100-mile country route

Find out more about the routes here.

Ride Day will be filled with everything you need to celebrate and remember those in your life who have been touched by cancer. From team tents to food from Tops Friendly Markets to finish line cheering — we can’t wait to see you!

Riders also have the option to customize their Ride experience through Ride Your Own Way. You are in control of your Ride! It can be one day or every weekend, 5 or 45 miles, on a road or a stationary bike at home — whatever works for you or your team! All that matters is you’ll be fundraising and making a difference for cancer patients.

But that’s not all. Here’s what else you can look forward to this year.

Monday, March 28 – Friday, April 1

Join us for a week of fun-filled fundraising challenges and activities to inspire the Ride community. Spirit week is a great time for riders to share their pride and get rewarded for their efforts. Stay tuned to your email and social media in March for more details.

Wednesday, March 30 

Buffalo RiverWorks

Join us at the official Ride for Roswell Kickoff at Buffalo RiverWorks! This is a time for you to rally your team, snag some Ride gear and get ready for the most impactful event of the year.

Join us at several of our favorite local breweries for Beers and Gears. When you purchase drink tickets during our events, 100% of the proceeds will go toward your Ride for Roswell fundraising page! Stay tuned for more information on dates and locations. 

Friday, June 24 

The Celebration of Hope honors and celebrates cancer survivors and the collective spirit of Roswell Park as the heart of Western New York’s fight against cancer. Bring your families to share an inspiring evening with stories of hope and promise for the future!

You’ll experience:

  • The arrival of the Extra Mile Club Peloton
  • The procession, featuring patients, survivors, doctors, nurses and researchers
  • Family-friendly activities and entertainment
  • Food and beverages

 

This event is free and open to the Buffalo community, so bring your friends and family with you!

* As of today, the 2022 Ride for Roswell will require volunteers and riders to show proof of vaccination in accordance with the University at Buffalo’s COVID policies. This applies to all volunteers and riders over the age of 5 who will be starting and finishing their Ride experience at the University at Buffalo. This will also include all attendees of on-campus events such as the Celebration of Hope and post-ride festivities at Baird Point. We will continue to monitor guidelines and communicate any changes to policies as they arise.

Featured Team: Not Today Cancer

Posted on by Matt.Kianka

Why does your team ride in the Ride for Roswell?

To give back to the place that treated me for breast cancer in 2021 and raise money to ensure our community has the best cancer treatment facility.

Two Riders pose holding hands

What is your favorite part about Ride Weekend?

Being around others and having volunteers cheer you on. People come out of their houses along the route to say, “Thanks for riding” and “You can do this.”

What does leading a team mean to you?

To go from hearing you have cancer last year to 6 months later riding 30 miles in my first RFR, it means being a survivor and encouraging others to be.

Visit Team Page

Featured Rider: Colleen Regan-Kreuz

Posted on by Matt.Kianka

Why do you participate in the Ride for Roswell?

The main reason is to help others. Cancer has touched me through family members and friends too often. Just recently I lost my brother to cancer. 

My hopes and prayers were that this ride in 2022 would be a victory ride for my brother. Sadly, it will be in his memory. 

But it is a beautiful tribute to my brother who was always ready to help others.

Colleen Regan-Kreuz's brother

What is your favorite part about Ride weekend?

The Peloton ride-starting at Roswell and riding through the community to UB. You can feel all the love and support.

What have you been doing to raise funds for the Ride?

This year I simply shared my story about my beloved brother on Facebook. I created a team TEAM REGAN and our mantra is Keep the Faith. I plan to do fundraisers like a paint night or a happy hour to help team members raise funds.

Visit Colleen's Page

Featured Rider: Michelle Raymond

Posted on by Matt.Kianka

Why do you participate in the Ride for Roswell?

I am a 19 year survivor but currently fighting again. I attribute my survival to the excellent care provided by my doctors at Roswell, especially Dr. Tracy O’Connor. In addition, many of my family members have passed from this disease and my dear friend list her battle in November. I love having the opportunity to give back a little while doing something I love at the same time. I was an avid bike rider and participated in the Empire State Ride 2 years ago. It was one of my greatest thrills and accomplishments in my lifetime.

Team photo at Ride for Roswell
Rider poses near Niagara Falls

What is your favorite part about Ride weekend?

Actually participating in the Friday night Peloton has also been a thrill for me! Seeing all the happy faces and the cheering and clapping brings tears to my eyes every single time! It gives me encouragement to continue the fight!

Rider poses with Riding together to End Cancer sign

What have you been doing to raise funds for the Ride?

My relatives, friends and coworkers have been incredibly supportive! Facebook has been instrumental in helping me raise funds as it reaches a wide audience. My grandchildren hold a lemonade stand in the spring. This year I am trying to think of a creative idea. I am still pondering…

Visit Michelle's Page

How to use our volunteer portal

Posted on by Matt.Kianka

It’s Ride season! We are so excited to return to our traditional Ride experience for the 2022 Ride for Roswell. To make this the best year yet, we’re going to need a lot of help. That’s where you come in!

We are excited to announce that we are ready to recruit amazing volunteers like you. Check out the opportunities we have for not only Ride Day, but Thursday and Friday as well.

Remember, we moved to a new volunteer platform in 2021. So if you were unable to join us last year, you will need to create a volunteer profile, sign the electronic waiver and then select your preferred opportunity. Details on how to do this and more can be found here.

Step 1

From your phone or desktop, log in to your current account OR to create an account. On the top right corner of your screen, you will see a green sign up button for new users and a blue log in button for current users.

  • If you are creating an account, you will need to input information and answer a few questions.
Screenshot of Volunteer portal

Step 2

Now that you have an account, you can respond to an opportunity! There are a few different ways to do so. I will show you one. Click on “browse location” or use your dashboard on the left-hand side to select locations. From your phone you will see this icon  to select your dashboard.

Screenshot of Volunteer portal

Step 3

Select which location you want to view. Your screen may look like this.

Screenshot of Volunteer portal

Or this.

Screenshot of Volunteer portal

Step 4

It will bring you to a screen explaining what you can expect at this location and a list of all available opportunities.

Screenshot of Volunteer portal

Step 5

Here you will see the date, time and description of each job. Once you are ready, you can respond to the opportunity.

Screenshot of Volunteer portal

Step 6

After you make your selection, it will direct you to the screen below. Confirm that you selected the correct shift, that you have downloaded, read and agreed to the waiver, and then you can submit your response.

Screenshot of Volunteer portal

You are now signed up for an opportunity! Feel free to connect with Ashley Gracie, Senior Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteers@RoswellPark.org or call 716-845-1055.

Volunteer portal

Resources

I am a Volunteer (or Student) : Galaxy Digital (freshdesk.com)

Finding Volunteer Opportunities : Galaxy Digital (freshdesk.com)

Responding to a Need as a Team : Galaxy Digital (freshdesk.com)

Responding to Volunteer Opportunities : Galaxy Digital (freshdesk.com)

Resetting Your Password : Galaxy Digital (freshdesk.com)

Looking for Support? : Galaxy Digital (freshdesk.com)

Fundraising Tip: Connect Your Dashboard to Facebook

Posted on by Matt.Kianka

Whether you’re an experienced or novice fundraiser, everyone loves a useful tool to help their efforts! Our team has just the thing. When you register for the Ride for Roswell, make sure to connect your online fundraising dashboard to Facebook.

This utilization allows you to spread the word about your fundraiser, send updates to your audience, track your progress and receive donations all on Facebook. Your friends and family can easily donate when scrolling through their newsfeeds and everyone will be able to see your progress on both Facebook and your dashboard.

Follow the below steps to begin using this tool!

Here's How to Connect Your Fundraiser to Facebook

1. Open two web browsers. Log in to Facebook on one tab and the Ride for Roswell website on another tab.

2. On the Ride for Roswell homepage, log in to your fundraising dashboard by clicking the “log in” button at the top corner.

Log In

3. Locate the blue box that says, “Raise Money Directly on Facebook.” In that box, click, “Edit Fundraiser Content.”

Blue box described in text

·               If mobile doesn’t work for you, try connecting on a desktop and make sure that pop-ups are not blocked in your browser.

·               Edit your Facebook content, including your title and story, before connecting to Facebook. 

·               When you’re ready, click “Save and Connect Fundraiser to Facebook.” 

4. After being redirected to Facebook, follow the prompts to connect.

·             If you’ve used Facebook fundraising for Ride for Roswell before, you will not receive any pop-ups. Instead, you’ll receive a notification on Facebook saying your fundraiser is live. On your fundraising dashboard, the blue box button will change to say, “Go to Facebook Fundraiser.”

Fundraising dashboard for ESR
5. Promote your Facebook Fundraiser on that social media platform by sharing or inviting people to your fundraiser to start receiving donations!
ride facebook dashboard image
This tool will allow you to spread the word about your fundraiser, engage directly with donors and reach more people than you ever thought possible. For questions about fundraising with Facebook and donations made through Facebook, check out our FAQ page.
Log in and start fundraising!

Get the New Ride for Roswell Fundraising App

Posted on by Sammie Janik

Fundraising for the Ride just got a little bit easier with our official Ride for Roswell Fundraising App! 

There are so many cool features that allow you to quickly and efficiently access your fundraising dashboard and communicate with donors. With this new app, you can:

  • Monitor your fundraising progress
  • Share your page using social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) or SMS
  • View and manage your donations
  • Update your page with a personalized story and photo
  • Connect with Facebook and start a Facebook Fundraiser
  • Send emails easily by importing your contacts list with just one click

Want to see a tutorial of all these features? Keep scrolling!

The app is available for both Apple and Android devices. It’s easy to get started – here’s how:

  • Visit either the App Store or Google Play Store
  • Download Ride for Roswell Fundraising
  • Once download is complete, log in with your Ride username and password you used at registration

Ride for Roswell Fundraising App Capabilities

So what can you do with the Ride for Roswell Fundraising app? A lot! There’s so much to explore and utilize, including The 2021 Ride For Roswell Leaderboard, your fundraising progress, thanking donors and more. Take a tour of the app below to help your fundraising even more!

Monitor Your Fundraising Progress

The very first thing you see when you launch the app is your fundraising progress. Here, you can keep track of how close you are to meeting (and exceeding!) your goal. You can also update your goal directly through the app. Click Edit next to your goal on the right hand side of your progress wheel.

If you’re on a team, you’ll also be able to see your team’s progress. If you’re a team captain, you’ll be able to edit your team, make someone a team captain and adjust the team goal.

Share Your Page

Now that you’ve made the commitment to be a fundraiser, it’s time to spread the word to bring in those donations. The Ride for Roswell Fundraising app makes it incredibly easy to share your fundraiser on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email and SMS. You can share your fundraising from three different pages:

  • Home (right under your fundraising progress)
  • Donors
  • Page (under your link)

View and Manage Your Donations

Keep track of your donations all under the Donors tab. You can see who’s donated to your efforts and how much they gave. You’ll be able to thank them right through the app, too.

Additionally, you can opt to be notified via email when you receive a donation! This is a great option to make sure you never miss a chance to say thank you to a donor.

Update Your Personalized Page

Say goodbye to changing your image and story only on a desktop or laptop. Now, you can do both right through the app! To change your image, you can upload a picture directly from your camera roll or a take a picture using the app. Don’t forget to update your story, too! Showcasing why the Ride for Roswell matters to you will help donors understand how important this cause is to you. If you’re a Team Captain, you’ll be able to edit your team’s page, too.

Once you’re information is all updated, you can customize your Ride fundraising link and view your page.

Integrate with Facebook to start a Facebook Fundraiser

If you haven’t connected your fundraiser to Facebook, do not worry! Now, you’re able to integrate with Facebook through the app. Head to the home screen and scroll down to the “Fundraise on Facebook” section. Follow the prompts and voilà – another touch point for donations! You’re online fundraising dashboard will now be integrated with Facebook and you’ll be able to receive donations through the social media platform.

If you’ve already connected your fundraiser to Facebook, this section will reflect that!

Send Emails Easily to Your Contacts

Have contacts on your phone you’d like to email about the Ride? The app automatically syncs with your address book. Whether you’re asking for donations, thanking donors or recruiting team members, go over to the Email tab to send updates to your contacts.

The Ride for Roswell Fundraising app make it easy for you to meet and exceed your fundraising goals. Download it today to get started! If you have questions, please feel free to email us at rideforroswell@roswellpark.org or give us a call at 716-THE-RIDE (716-843-7433).

 

Connect with us!

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Contact.

Office address.

Elm and Carlton Streets
Buffalo, NY 14263

Phone number.

716-THE-RIDE
(716-843-7433)

Email.

rideforroswell@roswellpark.org

Join our mailing list.

Click Here.

Office address.

Elm and Carlton Streets
Buffalo, NY 14263

Phone number.

716-THE-RIDE
(716-843-7433)

Email.

rideforroswell@roswellpark.org

Join our mailing list.

Click Here.

Quicklinks.

Proceeds directly benefit:

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center logo

Copyright 2023.

Roswell Park Alliance Foundation.

Copyright 2023.

Roswell Park Alliance Foundation.