We are just one short month away from the 1st annual 1 Million+ Steps 4 OCD Awareness Walk, and we have already raised over $16,000 towards our goal! If you have already registered to walk or have donated, THANK YOU for your amazing fundraising efforts.
We still have ways to go to meet our goal, though, so if you haven’t yet signed up — now is the time! Whether you can make it to Boston on June 8th, or you can join us remotely by walking in your own community — we want you to be a part of this event.
In Boston, we are hoping to have at least 300 walkers join us on June 8th, so we can show the OCD community’s strength in numbers. If you live in New England, can you join us, and bring a friend?
Tell your friends that walking is easy as 1-2-3:
- Register online at iocdf.org/WALKboston. You can register on your own, or create a team to walk and fundraise with. We will also have on-site registration on the day of the event starting at 8am, though we encourage you to register online in advance.
- Start fundraising in advance of the walk! Walkers who raise at least $50 get a commemorative walk T-shirt, and will be entered in our raffle to win some amazing prizes from Brooks Running and other local businesses. Click here to learn how.
- Join us in Boston on June 8, 2013, as we take 1 Million+ Steps for OCD Awareness!
We are also excited to announce two new sponsors for the 2013 Walk:
MGH OCD and Related Disorders Program
The walk’s connection to Brooks Running is a poignant one: As you may know, this event was inspired by the story of Denis Asselin, a father who set out last May to walk over 500 miles on a pilgrimage in memory of his son Nathaniel, who struggled for his entire short life with severe OCD and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Nathaniel was a vibrant young man, and a dedicated runner, who ran everyday is his beloved pair of Brooks Adrenaline running shoes. Nathaniel took his own life at just age 24. Denis took the grief over his son’s death and channeled it into his pilgrimage, and became an outspoken advocate for OCD and BDD awareness along the way. He walked from Cheyney, PA, all the way to Boston, MA, in Nathaniel’s memory.
“I walked the entire 500-mile journey in a pair of Brooks Adrenaline shoes. I felt that by walking in my Brooks, that my steps were not just mine but also Nathaniel’s. And, that I was not on the open road alone in my journey, but that my precious son was walking with me.” – Denis Asselin
When Denis shared this story with Brooks, they immediately wanted to be involved with the walk. And we are so greatful for their generosity. Thanks to Brooks, we will be rewarding our top fundraisers with gift certificates for their own pairs of Brooks Running shoes. Brooks is also helping to underwrite some of the costs of the Boston walk.
Massachusetts General Hospital has been a longtime supporter of the work of the IOCDF, and a generous benefactor to the OCD community. We sincerely thank them for helping to underwrite the costs of the Boston walk with their donation.
So, let’s get walking!
If you haven’t yet signed up, do so here. And if you have already signed up, but have yet to reach your personal fundraising goal or if you think that you might want to shoot for the stars and exceed your goal, please visit our walk website to access valuable fundraising tools to help you on your way: http://www.iocdf.org/fundraising-kit/
And don’t forget to create your own walk badge to show us how far you are walking. You can use this image as your profile picture on Facebook and Twitter, or include to emails to your donors. And tell us how you are doing! We would love to hear updates from you about how far you’ve walked, how much you’ve raised! Tweet us at @IOCDF with the hashtag #1million4OCD.
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