During your time at Virginia Tech as a member of Circle
K, many of you probably had the opportunity to "Lift with James."
As you may already know, James Reed, a local man, was diagnosed with
Muscular Dystrophy in the early 1980's. Our club began to lift weights
with him shortly thereafter. For many Circle K members, this was their
favorite project. You may remember your first time going to visit James
where you were perhaps a little intimidated, only to find this wonderful
man when you got there. Maybe he taught you a little bit about the New
York Yankees, about dedication, about service, or about Circle K.
James never forgot a friend. He took a Polaroid of everyone
who ever came to lift weights with him. "Lift with James"
is one of the longest running projects in the history of our club here
at Virginia Tech. Circle K volunteered countless hours with James until
his death in the spring of 1999. During his time with us, James was
an honorary member of our club and was an important example of our club's
dedication to community service. His legacy will live on in our club
and the memories in our hearts.
In the continuance of James' legacy, Circle K at Virginia Tech pledged to endow a $25,000 scholarship jointly with Kiwanis to establish a self-supporting fund. As of December 2004, we have reached our goal of endowing the scholarship we began Spring of 2002. Our next step is to offer this scholarship to an incoming Key Clubber to Virginia Tech. For the first year, our 50th anniversary year, we will be giving out two $1000 scholarships.
Since reaching our monetary goal for the
scholarship fund, the James committee has decided to
continue raising money in James' name. Half of the proceeds will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Family Foundation and the other half will be added to the scholarship fund so that more Key Club seniors may receive a scholarship.
Please take a look at this website, it
contains information about what the committee and club as a
whole have been working on to get this scholarship endowed.
If you would like to make a contribution to Circle K for one
of our James Reed events, please send us a donation. Make
checks payable to Circle K at Virginia Tech. All donations
will be tax deductible. Please do not hesitate to contact any
of us; we would be happy to hear from you!
We thank you again for your support, your time,
and your commitment to Circle K.
