Dear Challenge Walkers,

Can you believe it? Memorial Day Weekend is upon us! And really, I am so happy it is. I know we have all had a tough winter, so let's celebrate this great weather by getting out and about by walking in this nice weather!

Make sure your check out the training schedule in our guide if you have not done so yet. Share your training experience with your friends and family too! They may join you on a walk, donate to your hard work and efforts, or even sign up for Challenge Walk MS with you!

How is your training going? Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. I would love to hear your story on why you walk.

Fundraising Guide – check it out! There may be some more tips in here that you haven't tried yet. There are also some other great suggestions on our website here.

Have you heard the news? We have a new BONUS BUCKS incentive for new 2014 Challenge Walkers! This is a special offer from our Challenge Walk MS Steering Committee to help with this year's recruitment. All new walkers that sign up during the month of May receive an extra $500 in Bonus Bucks towards their fundraising goal of $1,500. Encourage your friends and family who are on the fence about registering by giving them this incentive. Use "ETC50" as a registration code to take $50 off their registration fee and to enroll in this special offer.

Congratulations to our top teams (so far):

1. The Lombardi Party – $13,240
2. Cocktails for a Cure – $13,050
3. The Believers – $5,519
4. Sock on Fi-yah – $5,410
5. Tommy's Team – $4,500

Kudos to our Top Individual Fundraisers:

1. Tom Olafsson – $4,500
2. Kevin Lombardi – $4,155
3. James Derick – $4,000
4. Amy Scannell – $3,385
5. Ann Scannell – $3,310

Need advice or want to talk about your fundraising? Let me know! I would be happy to help and we have a great team of mentors on the Steering Committee who are all experts in different areas of raising money.

Enjoy the long weekend and let's get out walking!

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!