Kyle Mills / Post Independent
A big discount on a lift ticket at Sunlight Mountain Resort on Friday will provide a huge boost for the area United Way campaign to provide people power for local nonprofit service organizations.
The 35th Skier Appreciation Day on Jan. 10 offers $20 tickets for anyone who wants to check out Sunlight for the day, with proceeds benefitting United Way Battlement to the Bells.
UWBB is in the midst of its $50,000 fundraising campaign to support its partnership with the Americorps VISTA Program.
Skier Appreciation Day typically generates about half of the fundraising goal, according to Traci Gurley-Tomashosky, executive director for the organization. The other sizable portion comes from employee payroll deductions through the local United Way’s corporate sponsors.
The VISTA Program is United Way’s primary contribution to local nonprofits, where full-time Americorps volunteers are matched with a human service organization that is in need of staffing assistance.
“It has equated to a lot more value to our nonprofits than a small grant we would otherwise be able to provide,” Gurley-Tomashosky said.
Since its implementation in 2017, the program has also leveraged more than $265,000 in grants and in-kind donations to the participating agencies, she said.
United Way has been active in Garfield County since 1982, and in 2015 the organization expanded to cover the broader region from Parachute to Aspen.
“For a long time we were able to give larger grants, but the volunteer program has really changed how much we are able to assist these organizations,” Gurley-Thamshosky said.
More information about the local Americorps VISTA program can be found at the UWBB website (unitedwaybb.org).
This year’s Skier Appreciation Day includes a beach/luau themed costume contest at 3 p.m. Friday, a children’s doughnut-eating contest sponsored by Sweet Coloradough, a hula hoop/limbo contest, and a 4 p.m. prize drawing.
For more information about the day’s events, visit Sunlight Mountain’s Facebook event page.
