Snowflex anniversary celebration raises supplies for city schools

Liberty University Ski & Snowboard team members collect backpacks from visitors for admission to the Snowflex Fifth Anniversary Celebration Cookout held Aug. 2, 2014.

Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre (LMSC) collected more than 300 backpacks filled with approximately 1,200 individual school supplies during the Aug. 2 Fifth Anniversary Celebration Cookout.

“There was well over a truckload of school supplies raised,” said Drew Sherwood, LMSC’s general manager. “About 600 to 800 people showed up to the community day. The parking lot was full from the time we opened at 10 a.m.”

Guests were asked to donate school supplies in return for unlimited use of the facility for the day. The supplies were picked up the following Monday by a representative of Lynchburg City Schools (LCS) for distribution to needy students.

LMSC staff and members of the Flames’ Ski & Snowboard team helped collect the donations and exchanged them for slope passes for the visitors.

“It definitely left a good impression on the community and brought awareness to us being here for five years,” said Naomi Joseph, LMSC’s event/marketing coordinator. “The kids really needed supplies for the new school year, from the high schools to the elementary schools throughout Lynchburg.”

More than 8,000 students attend the city’s two public high schools, three middle schools, and 11 elementary schools. Students are scheduled to register for classes on Tuesday, Aug. 19, the day after Liberty University’s classes start. Public schools open for the first day on Aug. 25.

Liberty Ski & Snowboard team member Kevin Hoff loads up a truck with the donated backpacks and school supplies.

“The supplies were taken to the Tools4Schools warehouse,” said Cindy Babb, LCS’s public information coordinator. “If it’s possible to get supplies to the kids before the first day of school, we try to do that. Some students might come to school without the supplies they need. We try to make it as easy as possible for them to pick them up.”

Approximately 66 percent of Lynchburg families of public school students qualify for reduced-price meals, and can likely benefit from the free supplies available in the warehouse.

“It’s definitely a need in the community,” Babb said. “Looking at our demographics, it’s economically disadvantaged, so we are thankful. We appreciate the supplies delivered for the schools, the students and the teachers. The backpacks were a huge, huge help.”