Southern New England Walk Now for Autism Raises over $280,000
The 2007 Southern New England Walk event took place Sun., Sept 16 at Roger Williams Park near Providence, RI. 122 walk teams turned out, double the number from last year. The 100% increase in walk teams is partly due to the hard work of the Southern New England staff and volunteers, but is also due to awareness raised by local radio station WCTK. WCTK Cat Country, southern New England's country music station, joined with Autism Speaks in an unprecedented awareness and fundraising campaign.
View highlights from the Southern New England Walk and see photo gallery from the event.
WCTK promoted the walk daily for four weeks, culminating in a 12 hour radiothon two days before the walk. Cat Country DJs adopted local families affected by autism and formed walk teams for listeners to join and sponsor. Over those four weeks the families became full fledged Cat Country personalities – appearing at live broadcasts and being featured in on-air vignettes. The night before the event, a concert was held featuring new Nashville artist Luke Bryan, with all proceeds benefiting the walk.
Walk day was a festival of color, music and activities. Geoffrey from Toys “R” Us, Paws the Pawtucket Red Sox mascot and Star Wars characters from the 501 New England Garrison joinedthe over 2500 walkers who were attired in a rainbow of team colors. Tony the Dancing Cop helped direct the walkers along the walk route with his unique and fun style of fast foot work and hand signals. The total raised to date is $287,419.42 with WCTK accounting for $116,836.27 of that number. As family teams continue to accumulate walker dollars, these numbers will continue to grow significantly.
Plenty of great food, beverages, fun arts & crafts, community resources and just family fun marked a wonderful day for Autism Speaks, New England Chapter.
Walk day was a festival of color, music and activities. Geoffrey from Toys “R” Us, Paws the Pawtucket Red Sox mascot and Star Wars characters from the 501 New England Garrison joinedthe over 2500 walkers who were attired in a rainbow of team colors. Tony the Dancing Cop helped direct the walkers along the walk route with his unique and fun style of fast foot work and hand signals. The total raised to date is $287,419.42 with WCTK accounting for $116,836.27 of that number. As family teams continue to accumulate walker dollars, these numbers will continue to grow significantly.
Plenty of great food, beverages, fun arts & crafts, community resources and just family fun marked a wonderful day for Autism Speaks, New England Chapter.
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