LOCALadk Magazine

Good Work | LOCALadk Spring for Hope By Lori Fitzgerald As fall passes and we prepare for the first snow to fly, our attention turns to the holiday season. This is always a season of giving, being thankful for what we have and sharing our bounty with those less fortunate than we are. At High Peaks Resort, this is the time of year that our thoughts turn to spring, Spring For Hope that is. Each year at this time we reach out to the nonprofit community and invite them to apply for our annual Spring For Hope gift. And, in keeping with the season, we award this gift just in time for the holidays. What is Spring For Hope, you ask? We give away our hotel. That's right, give it away! We reach out to nonprofits around the country and invite them to tell us what they would do if we gave them the use of our hotel for two nights and three days in April, commission a panel of judges to rate the ideas, choose worthy groups to give this gift and then give them an event coordinator to help them make it all happen. This is how we share the bounty that we have been given as a member of the Lake Placid community; this is how we say thanks to those who make our community stronger. In the two years that we have been awarding this gift, dozens of nonprofits have applied to receive free use of our 133 hotel rooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space. In addition, they receive catering at 50% discount for their event. Five (5) gifts have been awarded. Last spring, a joint application from Homeward Bound Adirondacks and Creative Healing Connections was one of the gift recipients. Their event – a retreat for returning active military veterans and their families – epitomized our vision for this program – what a special weekend! Approximately 125 families were invited to the resort to attend seminars, participate in activities including a bouncy house for children, mask making and drumming, and share time together. Childcare was provided so that parents could have a rare date night in Lake Placid. Many lives were touched that weekend and not just those receiving the gift. The team at High Peaks Resort experienced that special kind of feeling that you get when you know that a small gesture has made a difference in someone's life. In 2012 we had so many quality applications that the judges had trouble choosing just two from among them, so we decided that we would offer a third gift to be used in the spring of 2014. That gift was awarded to Trudeau Institute who will use their gift to host an international scientific conference at the hotel this April 4th-5th. The conference, called the Yin and Yang of Inflammation, will bring dozens of world-class speakers as well as scientists from around the country to our area. The conference will provide an excellent networking opportunity for these scientists, in particular for more junior scientists who might not be able to afford to attend had the gift not been given. It is anticipated that this event will result in new ideas, new scientific collaborations and professional connections. This event will also help to increase the visibility of Trudeau Institute and the entire Adirondack Region as a world class destination for events and experiences of all kinds. We look forward to hosting this exciting event. Once again it is that time of year when we put out our call for applications. We will award one more gift for the spring of 2014 later this year. Interested non-profits can apply by visiting www. springforhope.net and downloading the application documents. Tell us how you would use this gift to further the mission of your nonprofit organization. You can be a large, national non-profit or a small local one, everyone is judged equally, so talk with your colleagues and imagine what you might do. Remember that hope springs eternal! LOCALadk Magazine Fall into Winter 2013 55

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