Downturn Slows Elite Charity Events

Boston, March 20, 2009, The Boston Globe — To raise enough money to participate in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, a two-day charity bike trip across Massachusetts, Rachel Gabriel started an unusual fund-raising event of her own, an evening of belly dancing performances. Her "Shimmy Fund" raised nearly $4,700 last year for the Jimmy Fund and put her in the Pan-Mass Challenge.