Louisville Special Olympian trades his skis for a shovel to help neighbors during winter storm

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As the snow comes down, a Louisville Special Olympian is trading in his skis for a shovel.

On a bitterly cold Tuesday afternoon, Riley Petrando and his 17-year-old brother Will took to the driveway instead of the slopes.

Will, a North Oldham High School student, has Down syndrome and wanted to help out his neighbors – all while trying to make some money.

“Yesterday when we were getting snow Will started walking around and knocking on doors, so we thought we would put an ad up on the internet and get lot of business today,” said 23-year-old Riley Petrando.

But Will’s passion for snow hit a peak when he won two gold medals in slalom and giant slalom at the Special Olympics earlier this year.

The teen, who is affectionally known around his Barbourmeade neighborhood as “The Mayor” because of his care for the community, charges $20 a driveway while keeping his eyes on a new prize: a snowblower.

“Will brought home $100 himself yesterday and then today I think we've done $160 so we're pretty happy people,” Riley laughed.

Neighbors who needed the help said they were happy to get their driveways cleared while helping them reach their goal.

“They seem to be go-getters and I have never met them before or anything,” said Diane Ballard. “Being 57 it takes me several hours to scrape my driveway.”

Tuesday, the brothers conquered 15 driveways to try to save neighbors as much hassle as possible. Each driveway takes about 30 minutes to clear. The brothers have a list of the homes to tackle based on distance.

After several hours of shoveling and a quick lunch break, the brothers are off to their next home. They say they don’t really get cold, but rather break a sweat because they work so hard and so quickly.

Will and Riley know their days of snow are limited with warm, snow-melting temperatures headed to the Louisville area next week.

“We'll put the shovels in the back of the car and head to the next one,” Riley said as they loaded up and drove away.

If you are interested in having Riley and Will shovel a yard, text 502-939-5887.