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December 28, 2008
Short Track Speedskaters Provide Christmas for Families in Need
December 24, 2008—Salt Lake City, UT. For many Utah families, Christmas creates a financial dilemma. With unemployment on the rise and a struggling economy, the cost of providing Christmas gifts for children is more than some families can handle.
But members of the U.S. National Short Track Speedskating Training Program, based in Kearns, Utah, at the Utah Olympic Oval, decided to guarantee a happy Christmas for two families from the Utah Youth Village this year. Two-time Olympian Allison Baver organized the adopt-a-family program and enlisted the help of her teammates and the short track training program staff.
"There are so many families in need," Baver said. "If we didn't adopt them, they weren't going to have a Christmas."
The skaters shopped for five children between the ages of 8 and 16, plus two single mothers who are struggling to make ends meet. Although Baver expected her teammates to pitch in, she had no idea they would be so generous.
"I made a list of everything they would need," she said. "The 13-year-old wanted gymnastics lessons and we arranged that through a gymnastic place in Sandy. I made sure they got one item they really needed and then we got them one thing they wanted and one thing they could wear back to school."
Along with Christmas gifts, the speedskaters provided Christmas trees, Christmas dinner and even an electric stove and bed. The Utah Olympic Oval helped out by supplying the two families with a free annual family skating pass. The service project was organized during a busy season for the Short Track World Cup Team members who traveled to Nagano, Japan at the beginning of December for a competition.
"The girls, we were done and the Christmas presents were wrapped before we left for Japan. We were on top if it," Baver said. "The guys on the other hand. . ."
Apolo Anton Ohno, Travis Jayner, Anthony Lobello, Ryan Leveille, Simon Cho, Jeff Simon, Alex Izykowski, Jordan Malone, Ryan Bedford, Jessica Smith, Kimberly Derrick, Katherine Reutter, Lana Gehring, Carly Wilson, Mary Grace, Alyson Dudek and Baver participated in the service project. US Speedskating staff members also got involved including National Short Track Head Coach Jae Su Chun, strength trainer Shane Domer, High-performance Director Guy Thibault and short track coordinator Laurent Daignault.
"It was great coming together to give the kids a Christmas," Baver said, "I think this shows that if we can do this, then anyone can help."
For more information, contact:
Peri Kinder
801-417-5360
pkinder@usspeedskat ing.org
US Speedskating is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union as the governing body for the sport of Speedskating in the United States. To date, US Speedskating has won a total of 75 Olympic Medals, making it the most successful winter sport in the USA.
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