Patch Editors Walk for Animals

Patch employees from all across eastern Massachusetts – including Hamilton-Wenham Patch Local Editor Bobby Gates and several others from the North Shore - participated in the Walk For Animals in Boston on Sunday.

The event, in its 30th year, is a major fundraiser for the Massachusetts Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals and Angell Hospital.

The Boston walk aimed to raise $200,000 and as of Sunday afternoon $170,579.54 had been collected.

Organizers estimated more than 1,000 dogs participated in the one-mile walk around Boston Common on Charles, Boylston, Park and Beacon streets.

Other area Patch.com participants included Katie Curley-Katzman, local editor for Marblehead Patch; Aubry Bracco, local editor for Salem Patch, which will go live later this month and Les Masterson, a regional editor with Patch who will eventually oversee 12 patch sites on the North Shore and in the Merrimack Valley.

Simultaneously, walks were also held in Hyannis and Methuen.

The event was more than a walk; it involved everything from an dog agility course to live music, with all the events designed to raise money for MSPCA and Angell Hospital.

The Patch Team raised $1,380, the 10th highest total of the corporate teams that took part in the walk. The top corporate fundraisers were BeerAdvocate, an online beer review website and Ropes & Gray, an international law firm with a Boston office.

Patch employees regularly volunteer in their communities and the region as part of what it calls "Give 5," where all employees spend five work days per year volunteering and the company also donates 5 percent of its advertising space to non-profit groups.

To donate to the Patch.com team, go to our team page (http://support.mspca.org/site/TR/WalkforAnimals/General?team_id=11917&pg=team&fr_id=1291).