BARTLETT, New Hampshire ??” The heartfelt efforts of several kids, generosity of sponsors and hard work of The Kiwanis Club of Mount Washington Valley made for a successful day of fundraising to benefit Camp Sunshine of Casco, ME. Attitash in Bartlett, NH hosted the Kids Skiing for Kids benefit.
Kids were asked to raise pledge money to benefit Camp Sunshine, and with a minimum pledge of $25 they received a free lift ticket for the day, one for an accompanying parent, and most importantly the reward and satisfaction of helping others. The top three fundraisers were Salvatore Pappalardo raisin $555, Adam Levine with $189 and Emma Plante who raised $104. All tallied the Kiwanis Club will present a check for approximately $5,000 generated from the kid’s pledges along with donations from many sponsors.

“This is just a wonderful benefit for a super cause, truly children helping children,” said Jerry Meiliken of the Kiwanis Club. “The generosity of our co-sponsors and local merchants has been incredible.”

Along with lift tickets provided by Attitash, participants also received raffle tickets for prizes donated from local area businesses and industry manufacturers. Major sponsor Joe Jones Ski and Sports provided $1,000 worth of prizes, Wal-Mart contributed $1,000 in seed money, $200 in gift certificates and expect to add an additional $1,000 to the total donation. Additional sponsors included Rossignol offering demo skis for the day, Great American Ski Company provided rentals, Atomic, Arbor Longboard, Salomon, Scott, Crest Auto World, and Country Cabinets. In addition food was donated by Leavitt’s Country Bakery, Bagels Plus and Dunkin Donuts.

The event was executed by many members of the Mount Washington Valley Kiwanis including Jerry Meiliken, Kristin DiBella, Dave Matesky, Robert (Chuck) Kyle, Allen Gould, Steve Canales, Dan Andrews and other Kiwanis volunteers.

Located in Casco, Maine, Camp Sunshine is a retreat and program that addresses the impact of a life-threatening illness on children and their families. Camp Sunshine is free to participating families and has provided support to more than 17,000 family members in 44 states and 13 countries since 1984.