Ludlow, VT – For more than a decade, Okemo Mountain Resort staff members have been celebrating Valentine’s Day by donating to the Vermont ski and snowboard resort’s charity Have a Heart Program. To sweeten that Valentine spirit of giving, Okemo matches donations for departments that achieve a donation participation rate of 90 percent or better.nThis year witnessed a record amount raised in the history of the campaign. One hundred percent of the campaign funds were shared evenly between Black River Good Neighbor Services, in Ludlow, and The Springfield Family Center, in Springfield, Vt.

Okemo Human Resources Specialist Carly Hoszkiewicz spearheads the campaign. “Our goal was to collect $2 from each staff member, have Okemo match the funds and contribute $6,000 to the campaign,” Hoszkiewicz said. “However, because of the exceptional efforts put forward by our team, we reached over $7,600.”

This year’s Have a Heart campaign had participation from more than 50 departments and 33 of them achieved 100 percent participation in the program. A total of 1,231 staff members contributed $3997.50. Okemo matched $3,604.50 for a grand total donation of $7602.