Nonprofit at Wintergreen gets $4k grant

Wintergreen Adaptive Sports, a nonprofit organization based at Wintergreen Resort that provides ski and snowboard and kayak and canoe lessons for people with disabilities, has received a $4,000 grant from the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust to continue its third year of its Adaptive Sports Partners Program in the Lynchburg area.

This program will bring clients from the DePaul Family Services’ Options Day Support Program of Madison Heights to Wintergreen Resort for a minimum of 24 ski lessons over the course of this snow sport season.

Wintergreen Adaptive Sports also received a grant from the Nelson County Community Fund, which is used for skiing participants from the Horizon Clubhouse in Lovingston.

According to Michael Zuckerman, Wintergreen Adaptive Sports executive director, outdoor sports have powerful therapeutic benefits for people with disabilities. Not only can they maintain or increase their physical fitness, but also they enjoy tremendous boosts in self-confidence and self esteem.

For the past two seasons, up to six Options participants have been skiing weekly with the adaptive sports volunteer staff and the effects, both physical and emotional, have been tremendous.

“Watching these individuals, many of whom have serious disabilities, enjoy the freedom of sliding down a beautiful mountainside is very gratifying,” Zuckerman said. “Most of these folks have limited access to recreational opportunities in the winter months and we are thrilled to be able to provide the healthy exercise and the camaraderie that they experience.”

Zuckerman said the grant also will support other Sports Partners programming in Central Virginia and will add to the scholarship fund as well. “For the past three years, the number of scholarships has grown tremendously,” Zuckerman said. “Last year alone we gave over 200 all- or half-day scholarships.”

The mission of Wintergreen Adaptive Sports is to establish, operate, and maintain educational programs that encourage children, teenagers, and adults with disabilities to participate in outdoor sport and recreation. The program provides standard and adaptive equipment and trained volunteer instructors, both adult and teenagers. Skiing, snowboarding, kayaking and canoeing offer children with disabilities profound therapeutic benefits, including increased physical vitality and stamina, as well as important improvements in overall mental and emotional health.

Wintergreen Adaptive Sports was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1995 and recently concluded its 14th year of operation. It has given more than 3,000 lessons to more 1,000 children, teenagers, and adults with a wide range of disabilities, including deafness and blindness, spina bifida, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, paraplegia and quadriplegia.

The region served includes the entire mid-Atlantic area of the United States. It also serves students from Washington, D.C., Richmond, Raleigh-Durham and many smaller and rural communities within 150 miles of Wintergreen.

Though independent from Wintergreen Resort itself, Wintergreen Adaptive Sports operates with the full support of Wintergreen’s management and community.

For more information, call (434) 325-2007, e-mail info@skiwas.org, visit www.skiwas.org or write to P.O. Box 578, Lovingston, VA 22949.