NEWRY – Veterans/No Boundaries participants will have an opportunity to give back to Maine Handicapped Skiing through fundraising in the 24th annual Ski-A-Thon on Saturday, March 21, at Sunday River Resort and Sunday River Inn and Cross Country Center.

This year’s Veterans/No Boundaries event took place on Feb. 5 to 9 at Sunday River and included 19 participants and their families, as well as roughly 60 volunteers each day. Some plan to give back through the Ski-A-Thon.

Ski-A-Thon participants form five-person teams that solicit pledges and participate in a day of relay races, obstacle courses and other contests geared toward raising awareness and funding for MHS’s free adaptive recreation programs.

Teams create Web pages through www.firstgiving.com, where they have the opportunity to post pictures, tell their personal stories and track their fundraising progress.

Donations and pledges are tax-deductible and support MHS’s mission and programs, and the Ski-A-Thon typically raises 65 percent of the organization’s annual operating budget. MHS is also seeking additional participants and teams for the 2009 Ski-A-Thon.

To participate in the Ski-A-Thon or find out more about Veterans/No Boundaries and all of Maine Handicapped Skiing’s year-round adaptive recreation programs and upcoming events, visit the Web site at www.skimhs.org or call 800-639-7770.

Maine Handicapped Skiing, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1982 to provide free adaptive recreation opportunities for children and adults with physical disabilities.

The Veterans/No Boundaries program was launched in 2005 to bring together veterans and active duty personnel who have physical disabilities as well as their families for recreation.