Maryland Chapter’s Harbor Cruise Raises $3,500 for Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship

GUEST BLOGGER

Ashley Stone, CFE
ACFE Chapter Development Manager

When Baltimore was selected as the host city for the 26th Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, the Maryland Chapter decided to plan an event to showcase the city while giving back to the fraud-fighting community.

After brainstorming, chapter vice president (and president elect) Steve Lesniewski, CFE recommended that a great way to entertain conference attendees, while raising funds for the ACFE Foundation, was a sunset cruise through Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

On Monday, June 15 more than 360 conference attendees boarded the Spirit of Baltimore for a two-hour cruise complete with hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, a live DJ and dancing. The cruise traveled along the Patapsco River and offered views of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area, historic Fort McHenry (birthplace of the U.S. national anthem), Federal Hill, the Francis Scott Key Bridge and even the world headquarters of athletic apparel company Under Armour.

The chapter paid for the full cost of the cruise but requested that those who wanted to attend pre-register by purchasing $10 tickets. The chapter is donating the entire proceeds from these ticket sales (more than $3,600) to the ACFE Foundation’s Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship fund as part of the Scholarship Fundraising Challenge.

Chapter president John Grimes, CFE, said that feedback from those that attended was overwhelmingly positive. “From all reports, everybody had a great time. Many people had kind words about Baltimore and the Maryland Chapter,” Grimes said.

On behalf of the ACFE, I would like to thank the Maryland Chapter for hosting this unique event and for their generous contribution to the ACFE Foundation.