Living the high life: Loft tour slated
Lynchburg News and Advance
Wednesday, February 18, 2009Downtown denizens are opening their doors once again for The Free Clinic of Central Virginia’s annual Loft Tour, now in its fifth year. Scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 28, the tour will feature 11 lofts, including three in Riverviews Artspace, two in the Frye Building on Church Street and two in the City Market Lofts on Main Street (see box for a full listing).
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the tour.
All of the proceeds go to the clinic, which has become even more important to our area during the current economic crisis, says Executive Director Bob Barlow.
The clinic usually provides medical, dental, pharmaceutical and educational services to about 50 or 60 patients a day, he says. But there has been about a 50 percent increase in patients since July, and Barlow expects numbers to continue rising.
“Every time there’s a layoff here in the community, we get one to five people who come in immediately,” Barlow says. “All of our patient visits are up. It’s even more important for us to do well for the loft tour (this year).”
In 2008, the tour raised $7,000, which enabled the clinic to provide $70,000 worth of services to its clients.
Barlow says if they can raise between $8,000 and $10,000 this year, they’d be able to provide more than $100,000 worth of services. The clinic is staffed mostly by volunteers, so the money can go directly into patient care.
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