We feel deeply grateful to the entire Roaring Fork community and beyond for making The Buddy Program's fundraising season such an enormous success.  The spirit of giving is certainly alive in Aspen as demonstrated by the generosity of our gala patrons, race participants, event coordinators and vendors, our volunteers, restaurant contributors, corporate sponsors, silent and live auction donors, and especially our Big Buddies.  We feel honored by the remarkable show of support for our mission.  Thanks to you, we are able to go the extra mile with the children in our mentoring programs, thus significantly impacting their daily lives. 

We kicked off our summer fundraising season with the tenth anniversary of Boogie's Bash for the Buddies on July 3rd, hosted once again by our hero and mentor, Lenny "Boogie" Weinglass.  Thirty local restaurants and bars each served up a dish or unique cocktail, donating their time and services for the evening.  The Silent Auction was an enormous success once again, with 153 items donated.  New this year, our event was produced by Think Big Aspen Events whose creativity and professionalism brought our annual fundraising gala to a new level.  What's more, we launched our first Junior Ticket, and drew in a crowd of 80 young professionals who danced the night away. The result?  A fantastic party that incorporated the next generation of Big Buddies, patrons, and volunteers.  
 
After dancing past midnight, we awoke early along with 950 runners for The Buddy Program's annual Boogie's Diner Buddy 5-Mile Race on the 4th of July.  This Aspen tradition inspires adults and children, individuals and families alike, to run a five mile loop that includes Cemetery Lane's infamous Heart Attack Hill. This year, 130 volunteers cheered the runners up the hill and beyond, with Boogie himself the most enthusiastic cheerleader. 
 
Your loyalty to our organization keeps us thriving, allowing us to strengthen our community by guiding and inspiring youth through mentoring.  The free activities we provide, and scholarships and counseling services we fund, only scratch the surface of the overall support system we provide for all of our Buddy Pairs. Lastly, a special shout out to those people who help sustain The Buddy Program with their exceptional generosity: Boogie, our Chairman and our inspiration, our Board of Directors, and our patrons, without whom we would not be here to share our daily success stories!  Thank you.