AWARENESS

Lyme Disease Awareness & Advocacy

Tick Boot Camp is a Lyme disease awareness and advocacy platform dedicated to education, storytelling, community, and action. Through the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, our digital content, and our advocacy efforts in New York City and beyond, we help people better understand tick-borne illness while amplifying the voices of patients, doctors, researchers, and advocates.

What began as a mission to validate the suffering of those affected by Lyme disease has grown into a broader movement focused on awareness, education, visibility, and hope. Tick Boot Camp conducts both virtual podcast interviews and in-person studio interviews onsite, creating space for meaningful conversations that help liberate people from suffering through community, knowledge, and belief that healing is possible.

Ongoing Advocacy in Action
  • Official Podcast at ILADS: Tick Boot Camp has served as the official podcast at the last three ILADS conferences, interviewing leading Lyme-literate doctors from around the world.
  • New York Fashion Week: Tick Boot Camp participated in New York Fashion Week’s Project Lab Coat, a historic honor for Lyme disease awareness, research, and funding. Read more in our blog post: Tick Boot Camp Models at New York Fashion Week’s Project Lab Coat.
  • Nicole O’Donnell Book Launch: In 2026, Tick Boot Camp attended a packed New York City book launch event with hundreds of attendees, highlighting the growing momentum behind Lyme disease storytelling and advocacy.

These moments reflect the expansion of Lyme disease awareness into culture, media, research, and public conversation.

New York Fashion Week – Project Lab Coat

Matt and Rich from Tick Boot Camp took the runway at New York Fashion Week as part of Project Lab Coat, helping bring Lyme disease awareness into the spotlight in a powerful and historic way.

Brookhaven Lyme Disease Awareness Month Proclamation

In May 2022, Tick Boot Camp helped support a major milestone in local Lyme disease advocacy when Councilwoman Jane Bonner sponsored a proclamation declaring May as Lyme Disease Awareness Month in the Town of Brookhaven.

Lyme Disease Awareness Month Proclamation Brookhaven
Matt Sabatello and Councilwoman Jane Bonner Lyme Proclamation
Watch Proclamation Presentation

Councilwoman Jane Bonner presented this proclamation at the May 26, 2022 Town Board Meeting.

Official Legal Document

View Resolution 2022-412 declaring Lyme Disease Awareness Month in the Town of Brookhaven.

Resolution Language

“WHEREAS, Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection primarily transmitted by Ixodes ticks, and can be found throughout the United States;

WHEREAS, approximately 500,000 people each year are diagnosed with Lyme Disease in the United States;

WHEREAS, Lyme Disease can impact every system in the body and become debilitating;

WHEREAS, ticks carry additional bacteria, viruses, and parasites that contribute to complex illness;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that May is declared Lyme Disease Awareness Month.”

Learn More and Take Action
You’re Part of the Movement

Tick Boot Camp continues to grow as a leading voice in Lyme disease awareness—bridging patients, science, and advocacy while helping people take meaningful steps toward healing.