Charity and Skiing

January 23, 2016By Roland Pabst2

.. when do you feel good? You feel good whenever you are around friends and family and enjoy a fine dinner. You feel good whenever you are able to buy something you want. You feel good when you are active. You feel great when you participate in an event with and for children who are not so fortune in their lives. Children with cancer, children who had a stroke and at the age of 10 had to re-learn to talk and walk.

The 1st weekend in the New Year, Cindy and I participated at the Financial Communication Society (FCS) Race for Kids event. Cindy is a board member and active in this organization for many years. This year, I was the official Race for Kids photographer. I donated my time and a photograph of mine for their charity raffle.

Race for Kids is a ski weekend/financial marketing summit held each January in Stowe, Vermont. All proceeds of the event go to supporting the three charities: Hope & Heroes, Downey Side Adoption Agency, and Make A Wish Foundation of Vermont. There’s also a race where financial marketers, advertising agencies, and publications race a Giant Slalom course to win boasting rites and medals.

In addition to the skiing, snowboarding, iceskating and more, there are afternoon ‘fireside chats’ where these winter loving financial marketers discuss industry trends and share best practices for financial marketing.

The FCS also welcomes representatives and families of each charity to share their personal stories with FCS members and their families during the Friday night dinner. The children’s stories are stories of strength and determination in the face of great odds. It’s both touching and difficult to hear how they overcame their struggles with the help of their loved ones and the charitable organizations who support them. Luckily the newer cameras have a sophisticated autofocus system. Listening to these stories, it was sometimes hard to focus through my tears.

The Hope & Heroes was established to provide exclusive philanthropic assistance at Columbia University Medical Center located at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian.

Downey Side Adoption Agency founded in 1967, is a non-sectarian, non-profit agency in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Minnesota. Downey Side plays the role of a licensed adoption agency placing older children in loving homes who would otherwise remain homeless.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont grants wishes to children facing life-threatening medical conditions in order to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.

I encourage you to check out those great organizations and maybe you can play a part of it.
It would be wonderful.