On September 10, 2022, Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) staff members Famatta Gibson, LMSW and Dana Hoffman, LCSW each participated in the Smilow Cancer Center Closer to Free Ride. This was Gibson’s and Hoffman’s fifth year participating and raising funds to support cancer research and care, though they had never met until just before this year’s race.
Gibson serves as project coordinator for the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence SELOC Project and Hoffman is a social worker with the YCSC’s Parent and Family Development Program. Though both work out of the same building, they met after learning about their individual participation in the race.
Gibson shared on her fundraising page that she rode this year in honor a high school friend who was dying and losing her battle to cancer. “As I spoke with her mom to check in and see how she was holding up, I was so moved that I decided to ride in her honor,” said Gibson. “One trait that stood out for me as her mother shared memories was how she would take battered women off the streets and make her home their home. She described my friend as a person who is kind and selfless.”
Though Gibson’s friend had beaten cancer once before, she lost her recent fight less than two weeks before Gibson rode in her honor, having passed away on August 31, 2022. “She will always be remembered for her strength,” commented Gibson.
All funds raised through this annual ride go directly toward cancer research and care. As indicated on the website, “This is bigger than one person on one bicycle. Because so much is riding with us.”