Neeley Foundation's Neely SK8 Challenge

The Cam Neely Foundation is holding its annual Neely SK8 Challenge at various hockey rinks around Eastern Massachusetts. In only the second year since Neely’s idea took flight, donations are tough to come by for his charity at the Tufts Medical Center. The challenges of fighting adult and pediatric cancer get harder and harder for the Neely Foundation especially in these tough economic times.

“It’s hard for every non-profit to generate donations, especially in this economy,” said Danielle LaVoie, Director of the Neely Foundation and main contact for the SK8 Challenge. “The donations are jumping by the thousands each day, but we’re still below last year’s number.”

The towns involved in the 2011 Neely SK8 Challenge are West Roxbury, Burlington, Taunton, Marlborough and here in Plymouth.  Children and adults all around the area are encouraged to have family, friends, and even sponsors donate either their time, a portion of sales, or direct money to help Neely’s vision – finally curing cancer.

In 2010, the Neely Foundation was able to raise over $130,000 at the inaugural SK8 Challenge in large part to a nine-year old and seven-year old brother and sister tandem as their amazing efforts were aimed at helping their mother eradicate cancer.

“The winners of last year’s SK8 were Jack and Meaghan Dolan and they decided to do The Neely SK8 Challenge in honor of their mom who had, that month, been diagnosed with cancer,” said LaVoie.  “They reached out to friends and family via email and their efforts went viral locally. Jack and Meaghan ended up raising over $33,000 and a tremendous outpouring of love was shown from the community and their story ended up being featured on the local (television) news and in the newspapers locally along with the Boston Herald and (Boston) Globe.”

A number of prizes will be awarded throughout the Neely SK8 Challenge. Each skater will receive an official Neely SK8 Challenge t-shirt with his or her registration fee. The individual who raises the most money at each of the participating rinks will receive an official Cam Neely autographed jersey.

The top four SK8 fundraisers will receive four tickets to the Neely SK8 Challenge Winner’s Night at a Bruins game, where they will sit in a private suite and meet and greet current Bruins President Cam Neely.

Finally, the highest fundraiser overall will receive autographed Bruins items, four tickets to the Neely SK8 Challenge Winner’s Night at a Bruins game, a meet-and-greet with Bruins President Cam Neely, the opportunity to high-five the Bruins team as they take the ice and ride on the Zamboni or be a bench assistant during warm-ups. 

The highest fundraising team is included in the overall highest fundraisers unless it is a large team which will win a Bruins Warrior Clinic with Bruins Alumni and the Bruins Youth Hockey Development Team.

The Armstrong Arena is hosting the event on Sunday, March 6 from 5-to-7:00pm.  As of this morning, the little duo of Sean and Colin Fabry (8 and 5 years old) have raised $910.79 as the top team in Plymouth. Colin wants children to "pick yourself up and dream about dinosaurs" to feel better.

Kenneth Roos, in his second year raising funds for the event, is the top individual leader with an amazing $3,835.37 in honor of a friend of the family, Emily, who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at the ripe old age of one.  Roos, a hockey coach in Plymouth, was a top individual winner last year along with the Dolans and this just shows his dedication to cancer research by joining the crusade for the second year in a row.  Click on each of their links to donate to their causes as each contribution, no matter the size of the donation, goes directly to the Tufts Medical Center in the name of the Cam Neely Foundation. If you want more information, click any of the links below for more details:

• Plymouth – Armstrong Arena – Sunday March 6: http://www.firstgiving.com/wwwneelyskatechallengecom/Event/neelysk8challenge-day5 - Top Individual - Kenneth Roos; Top Team: Team Fabry

LaVoie makes a point that while it may seem like a dream to work with Cam Neely, the Hall of Famer takes his Foundation’s charitable efforts seriously and the SK8 Challenge is only starting to grow.

“It is very rewarding to work at The Cam Neely Foundation and Cam is great to work with, I learn a lot from him, and he’s very caring because his Foundation is so near and dear to him,” said LaVoie.  “There is a lot of passion about making it the best it can be and helping as many cancer patients and families of cancer patients as possible. Cam has wanted to do a skating event for a long time and there are no other major events like this in the area so it makes sense and it is really taking off.”

Consider donating for the Plymouth event by clicking on the links above as donations are accepted through March 10 regardless of the event date finishing up on March 6 as the SK8 Challenge is being held all around Eastern Massachusetts.  Or you can start by creating your own fundraising page at http://www.firstgiving.com/neelysk8 and joining the fight for cancer research or just donating to one of the remaining rinks listed below:

• Taunton – Aleixo Arena, Tuesday February 22: http://www.firstgiving.com/wwwneelyskatechallengecom/Event/neelysk8challenge-day3 - Top Individual - Karen Theriault; Top Team - Perry Power.
• Marlborough – Navin Arena – Sunday, February 27: http://www.firstgiving.com/wwwneelyskatechallengecom/Event/neelysk8challenge-day4 - Top Individual - Gavin Bilodeau; Top Team – Slash Cancer4Life