On March 2, 1969, Jaycees across the state of Virginia were fundraising door-to-door. They were selling apple jelly ($1/jar) to raise funds for their new camp in Blue Ridge to serve disabled children.

“William Robertson had spent the day prior to the sale date visiting 140 Jaycees chapters throughout the state mobilizing support for the plan. Some 100,000 jars had been ordered; the Virginia Jaycees were ready to hit the streets. But on March 1, one of the largest snowstorms in recent memory hit the commonwealth and the Jaycees started asking Robertson what to do. His answer was simple, “ start knocking on doors.”

And knock they did, and the orders for the apple jelly flooded in. It seemed the snowstorm had been a God-send, everyone had stayed home because of the snow and the Jaycees who braved the more than foot of snow that had fallen to visit their neighbors found a captive audience.“ God had looked down and smiled on the project,” Robertson said Saturday at the Founder’s Day celebration at Camp Virginia Jaycee. In all, the Jaycees raised $68,000 to start the camp, well over the original goal of $45,000.

(Source: The Bedford Bulletin, 2014)