NEWRY – Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation is holding its annual ski-a-thon Saturday, March 21, at South Ridge at Sunday River Ski Resort.
The organization, which provides year-round education and training in active recreation for individuals with physical disabilities, is celebrating its 30th anniversary, Deb Maxfield, marketing and development director of Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation, said.
She said the ski-a-thon is the organization’s largest fundraiser, bringing in more than 50 percent of the annual operating budget.
“I’ve been involved with this group for almost two years, but my family has been involved from the beginning,” Maxfield said. “This event is all about building community and celebrating the program. People come from all over to volunteer and participate.”
Teams of up to five people are asked to raise at least $1,000 in the weeks leading up to the ski-a-thon.
“If a team raises $1,000, we give them a collectible pin,” Maxfield said. “You’d be amazed at how many people have been collecting the pins since we started the event. It encourages folks to keep fundraising.”
The ski-a-thon formerly asked skiers and snowboarders to get pledges per run down the mountain, Maxfield said.
“That’s changed over time, and now, it’s more of a celebration,” she said. “People would rather ski together and have less competition. I get the sense that there are still teams out there that still try and ski down as many times as they can, on as many different trails as possible.”
All participants also receive a breakfast, lunch and dinner, and an event T-shirt.
Maxfield said over the years, the event has become “all about community building.”
“I asked one of the people who participates in the Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation what he thinks about the program, and he said it’s ‘miles of smiles,’” she said. “I think the ski-a-thon exemplifies that. We get people from all walks of life and from different corners of the region coming together to celebrate the program. I love seeing that.”
The event has already raised $95,144, with over 1,000 people donating to teams.
For more information, or to sign up for the event, e-mail events@maineadaptive.org, or call 824-2440, ext. 105.
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