Happy Ski and Ride Season!
I am very excited to say that I am BACK ON SKIS after a season-ending crash last year. Thanks in no small part to my surgeon, physical therapists, family and friends like you, I have already had 15 days on snow and just successfully completed my 9th Winter Sports Clinic for Disabled Veterans. Your love and support kept me motivated when times were tough, and I was in pain. The hope of being back on the slopes with NEHSA instructors and our students was the push I needed to keep working hard on my recovery.
I, along with NEHSA, need your continued support! On February 2nd, 2019, NEHSA will be hosting the 34th Annual Ski & Ride-A-Thon to aid our year-round activities as well as the NEHSA building project. We have completed the first phase of the build (which included the basement foundation and new ADA compliant walkway up to the main Sunapee lodge) and are actively raising funds to complete the second phase which will essentially double the size of our building. For anyone who has been to NEHSA, you know how much we need the space! Over the years, I have been truly touched by the support I received from my friends and family in this event and would love to keep up the momentum.
For those that are unaware, NEHSA stands for the New England HEALING Sports Association. This year will be my 11th volunteering with this distinguished organization. At NEHSA, we ski with students of all ages with a variety and sometimes combination of cognitive and physical disabilities including: autism, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome, mental retardation, spina bifida, spinal cord injury, paralysis, amputation, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, visual impairment, stroke, TBI, ALS, PTSD... the list goes on and on. What is so great about NEHSA is that we do not turn anyone away from a lesson. We always find a way to get our students out on the hill, sometimes very creatively. Despite their disabilities, or rather ABILITIES, all student can get outside and enjoy themselves.
As NEHSA continues to build out our building, grow its memberships, student-base and year-round adaptive activities, we still need your help. I know everyone’s budgets are a little tight right now, but every donation will go a long way. Please consider supporting NEHSA which is near and dear to my heart.
You can donate directly online with a credit card. All donations are secure and sent directly to NEHSA by Crowd Rise, who will email you a printable record of your donation.
If you would prefer to donate by check, please make the check payable to NEHSA but send it to me directly:
Meghan McLaughlin
4 Arlene Ave
Stoneham MA 02180
For more information on NEHSA, please visit our website at www.nehsa.org.
Thanks in advance,
Meg
