Smilow Cancer Hospital

The 10th Annual Closer to Free Virtual Ride is taking place tomorrow across Connecticut and across the country.

“The feeling I get is this is a mission that I can’t afford to fail on,” said Norm Forrester, who’s getting ready for his eighth Closer to Free Ride. It will be the fourth time taking on 100 miles. “If we can raise enough money, hopefully we can eradicate this traumatic disease in our lifetime that would be a...

More than 2,000 riders are ready to support Smilow Cancer Hospital in this year’s Closer to Free ride. Two of those riders said they are proud that their employer still supported their ride, even as a virtual event this year.

In February 2019, Jenna Kearny had a toddler, a 6-month old, and a new cancer diagnosis. “So, because of that I had to go through chemo and radiation,” said Kearney.   Friends told her about the Closer to Free Ride and Team Craft Beer. Not long after, with her husband’s support she joined her friends for the 65-mile ride.  …

Patients battling cancer continue to show their amazing strength as they ride in the Closer to Free Ride to help others.

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m on Team Craft Beer and a beer after you’ve ridden 60-70 miles, I don’t know much that tastes better than that,” said Closer to Free rider EJ Vongher. He sat at 30 Mile Brewing in Old Saybrook, describing the refreshing feeling after finishing the Closer to Free Ride. He’s completed them since 2015, and...

A group called Team Craft Beer raised the most money of any group in last year’s Closer to Free Ride

Cancer survivor Katie Bimonte’s spirit can brighten even a gloomy afternoon. “I’m grateful, I’m happy, I’m proud, life is so good, you have so much to be thankful for,” said Bimonte. Always with a smile, she’s the leader of “Team B,” a Closer to Free ride group of friends out to always have a good time, raise money, and...

You can help fight cancer by joining a team for the Closer to Free Ride. Many riders have found that the teams actually feel like family.

“I work at Smilow and literally this is my ride,” said Swani Schoberth-Wyckoff, proudly pointing to her Closer to Free Ride jersey. Schoberth-Wyckoff is an operating room nurse at Smilow Cancer Hospital. If you were to ask anyone at there about why the ride is important, she has a quick and sobering answer. “We are working at the Smilow OR….

Each year thousands of riders join the Closer to Free Ride to raise money for Smilow Cancer Hospital. And among those logging miles are some of the very people who help young cancer patients every day.

On ride day for Closer to Free, the Melvin family from Guilford makes it a party of five, on wheels.   “It’s about resilience, it’s about defiance it’s about courage,” said Charlie Melvin. “It’s really everything that we want our family to be a part of.” Tara and Charlie, along with their identical twins Liam and Sean, and their...

While thousands of volunteers, donors, and riders participate in Closer to Free because of their connection to Smilow Cancer Hospital, many just want to give back

When Stevie Hovey thinks about her dad, she says he was big: in personality, family and fun. “He was a big sailor, he spent a lot of time at the yacht club, he spent a lot of time with all of us,” said Hovey. “In 2010, the 83-year-old dad and grandfather was one of the early patients at Smilow Cancer…

: Stevie Hovey takes part in the Closer to Free Ride to honor her brother and her late father who both enlisted the help of the Smilow Cancer Hospital for treatment.

Nearly a decade after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Bonnie Cohen is still giving back to Smilow Cancer Hospital. She’s a nine-year breast cancer survivor and a nine-year participant in the Closer to Free Ride. “You feel one thing as a volunteer, but you feel that much more when you ride,” said Cohen. “It just touches your heart.” She...

She was diagnosed with breast cancer nearly a decade ago and continues to give back to Smilow Cancer Hospital.

A Westbrook dad is gearing up for the Closer to Free Ride Sept. 12, taking a 100-mile trek in this year’s virtual event. The inspiration: his 17-year-old son who’s now a brain cancer survivor. “I was in eighth grade and I was diagnosed with brain cancer,” said Matthew Scotella.   At just 13, Scotella faced news that would be hard…

A Westbrook teenager who lost his teacher to cancer found a way to give back.

Last year was Bob Pigue’s first Closer to Free ride. “It was spectacular, nothing shy of spectacular,” said Pigue of Team Scalfani. It may have been Pigue’s first time, but it wasn’t the first for the team’s namesake, Pat Scalfani, who rode in 2018. “Pat had such an overwhelmingly positive experience with Yale New Haven and Smilow that we...