November 6, 2012
Vermont Ski Areas to Support Sandy Recovery with Fundraising Drive
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Boston, MA - Vermont's ski resorts are launching a fundraising campaign this week in Boston, and online, to help residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut impacted by super storm Sandy.
Dubbed Operation Mountains of Love, 100% of the funds raised will go to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
"Our friends are going through something that Vermont knows all too well," said Parker Riehle, president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association. "When Irene hit us last year, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut rallied to support Vermont-they had our backs. Now, it's our turn to rally for them and we want them to know we have their backs as they do the difficult work of bouncing back."
Operation Mountains of Love...In Boston
The heart of the effort kicks off Thursday, November 8th at the Boston Ski and Snowboard Expo at the Seaport World Trade Center and runs the full four days of the expo, which concludes Sunday, November 11th. All of Vermont's ski areas will be represented at the expo where more than 50,000 skiers and snowboarders are expected to flock seeking deals on lift tickets and vacation packages.
Ski show participants will be encouraged to make a donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. A variety of valuable incentives have been generously provided by Vermont's ski areas and marketing partners, including 5 "Mountains of Love" vacation packages, hundreds of lift ticket deals and vouchers, and free Ben and Jerry's ice cream.
$10 SMS "Text" and Online Donations - Every Boston ski show participant who makes a minimum $10 donation between now and November 11th, 2012 using the text messaging donation feature provided by the American Red Cross (Text "REDCROSS" to 90999), or a secure online donation at www.redcross.org will receive:
Sugarbush Resort will match donations dollar-for-dollar up to a maximum total of $25,000. Long Trail Brewing Company will match the first fifty $10 donations.
To be eligible for prizes, ski show donors must show a Ski Vermont representative the validating SMS response from the American Red Cross dated November 5th - November 11th; or an email from the American Red Cross dated November 5-November 11th confirming a secure online donation of at least $10.
Operation Mountains of Love...Online
Ski Vermont's online family is encouraged to participate by making a secure online donation to www.redcross.org or by text message. For each $10 donation to the Red Cross, the confirmed donor will be entered to win one of five "Mountains of Love" ski and stay vacation packages for this winter.
$10 SMS "Text" and Online Donations - Everyone who makes a minimum $10 donation between now and November 11th, 2012 using the text messaging donation feature provided by the American Red Cross (Text "REDCROSS" to 90999), or a secure online donation at www.redcross.org, and emails a screen shot or a confirmation email from the Red Cross to [email protected] will be entered to win:
One of five "Mountains of Love" grand prize ski and stay vacation packages ranging from 2-day/2-night stays to 5-day/5-night getaways. Participants will be entered once for each $10 increment. For example, a $50 donation equals 5 entries.
To be eligible for prizes, donors must email [email protected] with a screen shot of the validating SMS response from the American Red Cross, or an email from the American Red Cross confirming that they've made a secure donation of at least $10 by visiting www.redcross.org. The validating SMS response and the email verification from the American Red Cross must be dated November 5th - November 11th.
A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
