Members CHILL as They Learn to Snowboard
After just two Sundays on the slopes, three lucky members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove are already traversing the terrain, making turns, learning to stop, jumping kickers, and riding tabletops. Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove is excited to be a part of the Chill Learn-to-Ride Program, where inner-city kids are given the opportunity to learn to snowboard. Along with 170 kids in each of the 14 cities Chill operates, our members receive lift tickets, lessons, transportation, and head-to-toe gear to begin their challenge of patience, persistence, responsibility, courage, integrity, and pride.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove posed the question to its members, "Why do you want to learn to snowboard and how would this experience impact your life?" Through short essays, three members were chosen to hit the slopes. One 11-year old member from the Club site at Heritage Elementary School explained why he would be excited to go to the snow, "I have never been to the snow or even rode a snowboard. The closest thing that I've been to was ice. My mom took me to the Garden Grove Park where there was ice for children to play with. I tried using a trash can lid to snowboard down a hill, but I just fell down... going snowboarding would be the best gift anyone can give me besides being with my family."
Another member from Patton Kids Club sees snowboarding as a spectacular opportunity to help prepare her for college. "Snowboarding is obviously about endurance, hard work, and precision, much like college, and when I look at snowboarding, I see a challenge, the same way I look at college." At age 12, she is very goal orientated and confident.
The third member from the Club site at Skylark Elementary is a good student and likes going to school. He had never felt snow until his first trip up to Bear Mountain. Snowboarding has proved to be a challenge as he asks his mentor, "Does everyone fall this much when they first learn?", but he keeps trying and striving to accomplish his goals.
Members will travel to Big Bear Mountain for a total of 6 weeks. About a quarter of the funding and most of the equipment for the program comes from Burton Snowboards. The goal is for everyone to leave the mountain with a greater self-esteem, a strong sense of accomplishment, more physically fit and healthy, and with the experience of having been able to explore the world outside their physical, mental and emotional boundaries.
For more information about how you can support the Boys & Girls Clubs or for general information, please call (714) 530-0430 or visit our about us section of our website.
The Boys & Girls Clubs have played an integral role in the Garden Grove community for over 50 years, providing daily programs and services to over 2,500 young people. The Clubs are open daily with programs in character and leadership development, education and career enhancement, the arts, health and life skills, and sports, fitness and recreation.
Chill is a nonprofit learn-to-snowboard program for at-risk inner-city kids. Each winter, in 15 different cities, 170 kids go to the slopes once a week for six weeks and get everything they need to learn to ride: lift tickets, lessons, transportation, and head-to-toe gear. The vehicle of snowboarding is used to help kids accomplish goals they never thought they could while teaching them some of the most important lessons of life— patience, persistence, responsibility, courage, integrity, and pride—all through positive adult role models who treat the kids with respect and encouragement.
Burton Snowboards is a rider driven company solely dedicated to creating the best snowboarding equipment on the planet. In 1995, Jake Burton founded the nonprofit Chill in Burlington, Vermont to bring snowboarding to kids who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity. Now in 14 cities in the U.S. and Canada, Burton is still Chill's largest supporter, donating volunteers, funding, office space, and equipment so that 2200 inner city kids can escape the pavement this winter and head to the slopes.
