No matter how many Closer to Free Rides they’ve done, the one moment that touches nearly every rider is the “Smilow Salute” at Smilow Cancer Hospital.
“It’s about bringing our community and our clients and our teammates together,” said Louis Dhanraj, consumer market leader for Bank of America. “Each year, this ride represents that moment to all share one common theme, which is Closer to Free."
It’s an emotional tribute sponsored by Bank of America for the last decade, where riders meet doctors, staff and patients in the fight. And those same fighters cheer on the riders who are raising money to help the patients keep going.
“It will have the emotions that I’m expecting to once I go through that part,” Dhanraj said. “But seeing the folks volunteering and cheering us on, it’s just going to make me go that much more.”
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He will be among more than 1,000 riders on Sept. 9, not only as a Bank of America employee but also as one of thousands of people who credit Smilow Cancer Hospital with saving a loved one’s life.
“Yale, Smilow Cancer Center has been just amazing in the proper planning of her cancer treatment,” Dhanraj said, reflecting on his mother’s treatment at Smilow.
Angela Richard was diagnosed with multiple myeloma about seven years ago, and it got tough after COVID.
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“That’s been treated for some time, but it had progressively gotten worse, and this is where we had to get the experts at Yale to really help us understand, and how to treat it," Richard said.
From January to June at Smilow, she was able to get a specific treatment called CAR-T therapy.
“It’s been night and day from the beginning of the year to where we are now. So, she’s home recovering right now," she said.
Dhanraj said it’s a full-circle moment knowing his company raises the profile of the Closer to Free Ride and is a sponsor of such a big part of the day, and that all the money raised goes back to patients and staff for research and treatment at Smilow and Yale Cancer Center.
“When I ride, I’m not just riding for the honor of my mom, I’m riding for all the doctors and patients and everyone that’s just been amazing in this whole process," Dhanraj said.
The Bank of America team has about 20 riders and about a dozen volunteers. They’re the fifth largest team and biggest fundraisers so far.
His involvement, both personally and professionally, helps put the Closer to Free Ride in perspective.
“I never pictured myself having to be part of that story and this year it makes it that much more meaningful,” Dhanraj said. “The fundraising, the research, the staff, all of that is a contribution to what my story is and for my mother, and so it’s really important I think not just year over year but every single day.”
