Marblehead girl, 9, a top charity fundraiser

MARBLEHEAD – Good feelings run in the Hawley family.Nine-year-old Kiana Hawley will be part of her sixth Pan Mass Challenge Marblehead Kids Ride on Sunday, Sept. 26, and this year she hopes to raise $12,000 for cancer care and research. That number is nearly half of the overall $25,000 fund-raising goal for the Marblehead event."It makes me feel like I’m doing something for a good cause. When I think about it, it makes me want to ride more," Kiana said Thursday. She will be riding a mountain bike this year, and after the equipment is packed up and the post-ride party is over she’ll be going home for crumb cake, her favorite.This fall she will be riding in memory of her uncle, David Schmitt, who succumbed to cancer last year, two months after cheering her on in her fifth effort. Last May, Kiana pedaled more than 12 miles with her uncle present. She had raised $36,000 in his name in five years. In 2007, at the age of 8, she was named top fundraiser for all of the PMC Kids Rides.This time she won’t be alone. Her brother, Andualem, will be on his official event-style bike too, at the age of 3 3/4."He says he’ll ride a couple of miles and then cheer," said their mother, Tanya Hawley, who entered Kiana in her first Marblehead Challenge as a last-minute thing in 2005 and now runs the event, which is expecting 150 local children ranging from 2-15 years old.The Challenge is based on a 1-mile course around the Eveleth School, a safe, level area away from the town’s main streets. This year older children will have the chance to follow the town’s 5.5-mile bicycle trail to the Salem line and back.To boost her fundraising efforts, Kiana created a video to send to friends and family: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKo4iDXiRQY&feature=email and she also plans to host an assembly at her school, telling her peers to join in on the ride for a cure.Check-in on the 26th is from 9 to 9:45 a.m. The ride begins at 10 a.m. and the post-ride party is from 11 a.m. to noon. The party will feature a DJ, refreshments, face painting, and a visit from some local heroes from the local fire and police departments..There is a $10 registration fee and $25 fundraising minimum per rider. PMC Kids Rides sponsors include Stop & Shop, Overstock.com and the Yawkey Foundation. Contributions can be made payable to the Pan-Mass Challenge. To register, visit http://kids.pmc.org. For more information, email [email protected] or call 800-WE-CYCLE.The Marblehead event is one of 35 PMC Kids Rides throughout New England and beyond, attracting nearly 6,000 cyclists who will ride between one and 26 miles and making them part of the PMC mission, involving them in volunteerism and fundraising in a safe and athletic way. To date, the regional program has raised more than $2.3 million. The Marblehead Ride was started by Lisa Rosen and her family after her mother Arlene Rosen passed away from cancer.