Charlestown Woman Taking Final Steps of 30-Day Bunker Hill Monument Climb

With just two days left of her 30-day Bunker Hill Monument climbing challenge, Charlestown resident Elena Barbera hasn’t yet decided how she will celebrate reaching her goal.

But she thinks it will probably involve a big ice cream sundae.

Barbera began her month-long journey on April 23, promising to climb the monument’s 294 steps every day through May 22 to raise money to help the 14 people who lost a limb in the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15.

“I wanted to do something, take some sort of action for the victims, particularly for the amputees, because I could only afford to give a small amount to any one of them or to the One Fund but I wanted to raise more money than I could give,” Barbera said. “So had the idea to climb the monument for 30 days in a row.”

As for why she picked the Bunker Hill Monument, Barbera said: “The monument really is this tremendous symbol of freedom in Boston.”

She set up a GoFundMe.com page and asked people to support her by donating toward her goal—$1 per step, times 294 steps over 30 days, equals $8,820. As of Monday morning, she was just approaching the $6,500 mark.

Barbera turned to District 1 Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina for help in making sure the money she raises gets in the hands of the 14 bombing amputees, such as North End resident Roseann Sdoia and Stoneham residents JP and Paul Norden, as well as the five amputees who have not been named publicly.

“I have two first cousins who are amputees and I also volunteer for iPods for Wounded Veterans. I just happen to have a lot of firsthand knowledge of what it takes for these people to recover, not only physically but mentally and emotionally,” Barbera said.

Many people have joined her on her daily climbs, including LaMattina; State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz; U.S. Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez; Boston mayor candidates John Connolly, Rob Consalvo and Bill Walczak; former gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker; students from the Eliot K-8 Innovation School in the North End; and members of the Charlestown Mothers Association, among other friends and area residents.

“It’s been amazing the way the community has jumped on board with this and rallied around it and participated in it with me. I didn’t have to climb alone on any day,” Barbera said.

Charlestown Patch Editor Becca Manning will be joining Elena Barbera on her 29th climb on Tuesday, May 21. Look for photos from the climb later this week and help Barbera reach her goal by donating through her GoFundMe.com page, at gofundme.com/2p1048.