AUBURN – Last week, there were Green Monster seats. This week, Bruce Springsteen tickets and a chance to have lunch with Sen. Olympia Snowe.

All are prizes in events to raise money to help support Auburn native Ben Hayes as he recovers from a December spinal cord injury.

“I can’t say enough thanks to my friends and family and the people in the community who have helped us so much,” Hayes said on Friday.

Tickets to three Red Sox games – including a pair for the Green Monster seats at the Mariners game this weekend – were raffled Wednesday night at Gipper’s, raising about $5,000 for the Ben Hayes Support Fund.

On Friday, June 13, a silent and live auction at Lost Valley is scheduled. Items include Red Sox, Patriots, Maineiacs and Sea Dogs tickets, as well as golf and ski packages; horseback riding lessons; sailing and sea kayaking lessons; weekend getaways to inns and resorts, including the Samoset; jewelry; artwork; 100 gallons of home heating fuel; restaurant certificates; four box seats to see the Boss (not to be confused with the lunch with Sen. Snowe) and more. Reservations for the event are being taken at the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce at 783-2249.

Hayes said his recovery is going slowly, but surely. He spent several months in a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta, learning how to use specialty equipment and readjusting to life after a freak accident in the snow left him paralyzed.

“I’m regaining some strength in my arms,” said Hayes, who continues his rehab at his new house near the Auburn Middle School. “So the arms seem like they’re coming back, but nothing so far in the fingers or legs.”

He and his wife, Erin, and their daughter Isabel, are settling into their new home, a ranch with wide doorways and halls that accommodate his wheelchair.

But he’s itching to get back to work.

“I’m hoping to get back within a week or so,” said Hayes, who works in the real estate department of Hannaford. Before that, he was part of the economic development team for six years at the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council. “I’ll start part time, working from home, then ramp up from there.”

Erin has already returned full time to her job with Inverness Medical. Both employers are involved in fundraisers for the family. On June 28 Hannaford is sponsoring a benefit dance at the Rochambeau Club in Biddeford; in March, Inverness sponsored a dance and auction that raised $5,000.

A February support supper at Lost valley also raised $5,000 and smaller events have contributed to their care fund as well.

Friend Jennifer Richards, who helps organize activities for the Ben Hayes Support Fund, said the community response has been wonderful. She’s cheered by that, as well as Ben’s gumption and his ongoing recovery.

“He’s definitely making strides; there’s been noticeable improvement,” she said. “We’re all praying for continued improvements.”

For more information about events, visit www.supporthayes.com