Celebration event to be held Wednesday
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In mid-September, employees of Speedway SuperAmerica’s District 145 set out to create a “Mile of Love” for West Virginia University Children’s Hospital. They sold paper links to their customers in hopes of creating a chain one mile long. One month and more than $14,000 later, they achieved their goal.
Speedway SuperAmerica is one of the largest chains of company-owned and operated gasoline and convenience stores in the country. District 145 includes stores in Parkersburg, Ravenswood, Ripley and Vienna in West Virginia and Belpre and Marietta in Ohio.
To celebrate reaching the goal, Speedway SuperAmerica and Froggy 99 are inviting members of the community to join them at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Erickson All Sports Facility football field on Blizzard Drive in Parkersburg. The one-mile chain will be stretched out across the field to spell the word “LOVE.” They are looking for 200 people to hold the chain.
“We are so grateful for the hard work of the employees and customers of District 145. This money will help us ensure that every child that walks through our doors receives high quality medical care,” Cheryl Jones, R.N., director of WVU Children’s Hospital, said.
Speedway SuperAmerica has been a charitable partner with Children’s Miracle Network for almost 20 years. Since 1991, Speedway has raised more than $29 million for Children’s Miracle Network through a variety of grassroots fundraising campaigns and corporate-sponsored activities.
In 2009, a total of 111 Speedway SuperAmerica stores across the state and region raised more than $290,000 for WVU Children’s Hospital, the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in West Virginia.
WVU Children's Hospital provides maternal, infant and pediatric care for West Virginia and the surrounding region, giving care to high-risk mothers, premature infants and children with life-threatening conditions through adolescence to adulthood. For information on WVU Children's Hospital, see www.wvukids.com.
The Children's Miracle Network is a fundraising program to benefit hospitals providing healthcare for children. Created by the Osmond Foundation in 1983, the Children’s Miracle Network includes 170 hospitals throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. For information on Children's Miracle Network, see www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org.
