Posted 3/12/2009
On Saturday, March 7th, 14 local people participated in instructor Scott Johnston’s grueling 2 hour spin class at the Leading Edge Fitness in Amherst. The 2 hour class was set up to mimic a stage in the Tour de France, including hill climbs and sprints. Their participation and fundraising efforts, each pledging $50 or more, helped raise more than $1200. The result was the creation of a scholarship fund for the town of Amherst Leisure Services (LSSE); specifically targeting children who would like to attend summer sports camps and could otherwise not afford to go.
“I could not be happier to accept this money on behalf of the children in our community. With the increase in fees for summer camps and tightening of local budgets, more and more families will need some form of assistance this summer,” explained Sports and Recreation Director, Mark Miville. “Scott did all of this on his own, unsolicited. It’s pretty impressive when you have a community member out there who is willing to put in the time and effort to help. We hope that this will give some attention to the fact that there will be a need for scholarships, given the present economy. We will certainly be looking for other fundraising avenues and donations to add to the sports summer camp scholarship fund now that it’s started,” added Miville.
Leisure Services & Supplemental Education (LSSE) is a Town of Amherst Department that builds community and strengthens families through a variety of recreational and educational programs, services and facilities, serving approximately 50,000 preschool age kids through senior citizens all over the Pioneer Valley and the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools. LSSE offer hundreds of programs annually, including adult and youth education classes, aquatics, a licensed after school program, Community Theater, youth and adult sports, summer vacation and resident camps, and numerous special events.