Durango, CO – Durango Mountain Resort is selling discounted tickets and donating proceeds to charity–sounds like a good reason to go there for a day of skiing. The official business:

“Durango Mountain Resort is pleased to congratulate the Boys & Girls Club of La Plata County on being selected as the 2009 beneficiary of Purgatory’s annual Benefit Day, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5. Lift tickets for Benefit Day will be sold at a deeply discounted rate of $15, with $10 from each ticket donated to the Boys & Girls Club and $5 donated to the Durango Winter Sports Foundation. Lift tickets can be purchased in advance at Hassle Free Sports, Second Ave. Sports, Ski Barn and Magpies Newsstand Café.

The Boys & Girls Club will use the funds raised on Benefit Day to purchase a van that will be used to transport kids to and from the club and other activities and programs in the community. “The Boys & Girls Club of La Plata County is honored to be selected as Durango Mountain Resort’s Benefit Day recipient,” said Vaughn Morris, chief professional officer for the Boys & Girls Club. “DMR does so much for our community, and we are looking forward to a great day of skiing and fun to support the kids of La Plata County.”

DMR received applications from more than 30 non-profits seeking to be this year’s Benefit Day recipient, and with so many worthy organizations to choose from, it was extremely difficult to select just one. As a result, and for the first time ever, DMR will add a second charity beneficiary to each of this year’s four Locals Days, which benefit KSUT public radio. On Locals Days, discounted lift tickets will be available for purchase with a coupon from the Durango Telegraph. Locals Day ticket prices are $39 for adults and $25 for kids, and a four-punch card for all four Locals Days is available for $99. Portions of the proceeds will benefit both KSUT and each day’s second charity, scheduled as follows:

• Sunday, Dec. 20: Manna Soup Kitchen

• Sunday, Jan. 10: To offset the medical expenses of a longtime DMR employee, Barry “Carmine” Kemler, whose daughter, Caitlin, is undergoing medical treatment in Denver for a life-threatening illness

• Sunday, Feb. 7: Music in the Mountains’ “MITM Goes to School” program to promote music education in local schools

• Sunday, March 7: La Plata Search and Rescue

“I am thrilled to learn that Manna Soup Kitchen will be a beneficiary of Durango Mountain Resort’s first Local’s Day on Dec. 20,” said Sarah Comerford, director of the Manna Soup Kitchen. “This is an incredible opportunity to raise awareness of the need for the work we do in the community. Funding is especially critical as we move into our new fiscal year with the anticipation of a growing client base.” On Dec. 20, DMR also will be collecting non-perishable food items to help stock the Kitchen’s shelves for the holidays.

Since its inception in 1993, Benefit Day has generated over a quarter of a million dollars for Durango-area charities and has raised up to $30,000 in a single event. Past Benefit Day recipients include the United Way, the FLC Community Concert Hall Fund, the La Plata County Historical Society, the La Plata County Humane Society, the San Juan Mountain Association, the Durango Foundation for Educational Excellence, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of La Plata County, the Durango World Cup, Southwest Colorado Cares (to benefit victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks), the Durango Arts Center, Volunteers of America, the Durango Discovery Museum, Trails 2000, the Durango Winter Sports Foundation, Durango Nature Studies, and the American Red Cross.”