Happy Summer!

Days are longer, weather is warmer — it's the lazy days of summer…

This also means that the MS Challenge Walk is only a few short months away! If you have yet to start your fundraising – NOW is the time to do so!!

You all have amazing plans for this summer, all of which include networks of opportunity to fundraise. Have a BBQ to go to on the other side of your neighborhood? Try walking there and telling your BBQ buddies about your September weekend on the Cape. Run a 50/50 or a raffle at the next Bruins Stanley Cup viewing party! Ask your employer to have a casual Friday for MS, with the proceeds to dress down going towards your fundraising goal. I challenge you to get creative with the resources you have around you!

Don’t let yourself postpone your fundraising or training! Joining the effort to find a cure for MS is too important.

How is your fundraising going? Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.

Congratulations to our top teams (so far):

1. The Lombardi Party – $47,745
2. Team DEA and Friends – $21,497
3. Cocktails for a Cure – $14,892
4. Sarah’s Sponsors – $12,039
5. The Believers – $8,478

Kudos to our Top Individual Fundraisers:

1. Nick D’Alleva – $17,735
2. Kate Carlson – $10,925
3. Kevin Lombardi – $10,170
4. James Derick – $5,912
5. Ann Scannell – $5,750

It’s back! – Bonus Bucks Incentive

For the next month, any registered participant who helps a new Challenge Walker sign up will get $100 of Bonus Bucks towards your fundraising! This $100 of Bonus Bucks you can choose what to do with it:

• Use the $100 towards your own fundraising goal
• Split the Bonus Bucks with your new participant and each get $50 towards your fundraising goal
• Encourage the new participant to sign up by giving them $100 of Bonus Bucks to get started towards their fundraising!

E-mail me the name of the new walker, along with how you would like the money allocated. The promotion will run through the end of July.

Training Walk – Mark Your Calendar

• There’s still time! Walk MS Wakefield: Saturday, June 22. All MS Challenge Walkers are welcome to attend and waive the registration fee! This will be a great opportunity to meet a number of your Challenge Walkers before September! Registration opens at 9 AM, walk starts at 10 AM. Please stop by the Challenge Walk table!
• Franklin, MA: Every Saturday at 8:30 AM, some South Shore members of the Lombardi Party will walk, starting at the Kennedy School on Pond Drive. All are welcome to join! For any questions, you can email me.
• July 27 in Brockton for a Training Walk with your fellow Challenge Walk peers! More info to come.

Aileen is the Director of Development for the Greater New England Chapter of the National MS Society responsible for the 2013 Challenge Walk. She has interned with the National MS Society at the Greater Delaware Valley Chapter with Program Events and is looking forward to working closely with the Steering Committee and Challenge Walk Teams to make this year's MS Challenge Walk a memorable one!