Fundraisers Drive “Walk MS” Past $1 Million Mark

Hamden resident Chris Getman and the 174-member Travelers walk team have been named the 2009 top fundraisers for this year’s Travelers Walk MS event. For the second year in a row, Getman took home the honor for the most money raised by a single walker. Getman walks in honor of his wife, Toddie, who was diagnosed in 1975. This year marked the 13th consecutive year that Getman participated in the Walk MS event.

Getman raised $19,190 during the 2009 Travelers Walk MS and he attributed his success to his long-standing letter-writing campaign. Travelers, the Hartford-based sponsor of the event, led the state as the top fundraising team with 174 walkers combining to raise $44,552.

The efforts of the Travelers fundraising team began in early 2009 as four Travelers employees – Todd Bateson, Jim Birchall, Kate Kane and Rita Ortiz – began recruiting employees to join the team. The Travelers team and its members created several unique fundraisers leading up to the Walk MS event, including a Valentine’s Day rose sale that netted $3,000 and an MS Awareness Night held during a Hartford Wolf Pack game in April.

The Arthritis Foundation, Northern and Southern New England Chapter, has announced that Steven Hartman, senior vice president of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, will chair the 2009 Arthritis Foundation “Forks & Corks” Wine & Food Event. The event will be held on Oct. 22 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. The event features food from the Hartford area’s best restaurants and wine from Connecticut’s top distributors. For sponsorship and advertising opportunities, please contact Heather Schold at the Arthritis Foundation at (860) 563-1177 or by email at Hschold@arthritis.org. Tickets can be purchased online at https://arthritisnsne.ejoinme.org/forksandcorks.

Camp Courant has a new opportunity to raise funds for next summer. Without additional funding by February of next year, the camp’s six-week season will be in jeopardy. Thanks to the support of The Hartford Courant, FOX 61 and CBS Radio Stations, Camp Courant will be hosting a telethon Oct. 26, 27 and 28 during the FOX 61 Morning Show that airs from 6 to 9 a.m.

Central Connecticut Senior Health Services will join Planetree, as well as hospitals and healthcare organizations around the world this October to commemorate the third annual Patient-Centered Care Awareness Month. Central Connecticut Senior Health Services has been actively engaged in implementing the Planetree model for the past 2 years, focusing on service excellence and providing meaningful opportunities for patients and families to be actively involved in their care, such as enhancing the resident dining experience and creating a healing environment by providing pet, aroma and massage therapies.