Massachusetts man beating cancer with beerDate: 11/20/2014 Many good people have been able to say they have gone to great lengths to help the fight against cancer.
Todd Ruggere aims to say he’s traveled great lengths for the cause, all with beer in hand.
Ruggere, a resident of Grafton with connections to the area as a former American International College student, is embarking on a mission to drink a beer in all 50 states to raise money in support the cancer research and treatment efforts at 50 hospitals nationwide.
Ruggere previously completed separate tours of all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts and 169 Connecticut towns, raising money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, respectively.
“I’m a numbers guy and I knew there were 351 towns in Massachusetts and one day I was just trying to list them all. After a week, I had only come up with about 160,” he said. “I found a Florida and Peru and Mount Washington and joked that I was going to drink a beer in each of those towns and it kind of went from there.”
Ruggere said while he has not been directly affected by cancer, it is a cause that has resonated with him.
“The No. 1 question people ask me is, ‘Why cancer?’” he said. “The truth is, and I remember the exact moment, it was a Jimmy Fund commercial that was played at the movie theater and they passed cans down the aisle. It was so sad I knew I had to do something.”
As he embarked on his tour, drinking a Samuel Adams at each stop, national media outlets took notice and his story was retold on The Today Show, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX, among others.
After raising $40,000 during an eight and a half month tour through the Bay State and using his newfound notoriety, he collected $50,000 through his Nutmeg State circuit, dubbed the Connecticut Pour Tour, hosted by Two Roads Brewing Company of Stratford, CT.
With the high level of success, he then decided to take his tour nationwide.
“I just kind of thought, ‘If I can raise this much money going from town to town, how much could I raise going state to state?’” Ruggere said.
All of the money raised in a state will stay within the local community, he stressed. Currently, the tour has confirmed partnerships with 25 states, plus cancer institutes and foundations in Alabama, South Dakota, South Carolina, Wyoming, New Mexico, Vermont, Arizona and Oregon.
Planning a coast-to-coast beer drinking tour takes time – and money. Ruggere has opened a GoFundMe page with a goal of $50,000 to help defray the cost of travel and purchase prizes – ranging from vacations to iPads to tickets to sporting events – at fundraisers that will be hosted at each stop.
“This is so involved that I’m taking a year off from work, so the GoFundMe was set up to help with the expenses, because some of the travel is going to cost a small fortune,” he said, stressing that he anticipates the money raised will far exceed the cost of the trips.
Ruggere said he plans to start in January, but admitted he doesn’t know exactly how long the trip will take. Part of it depends on the level of funding he receives. If he is unable to raise the full $50,000, he still intends to visit as many states as possible.
In addition to donating, the public has the opportunity to be involved by suggesting possible sites for Ruggere’s beer drinking stops. In his previous sojourns, he’s had some interesting requests, including a going to llama farm, having a drink with a donkey, and visiting a nudist colony.
For more information, visit Ruggere’s website, www.usapourtour.com. To donate to his GoFundMe campaign, visit www.gofundme.com/foply8.
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