Skaters and Good Deeds

[skatinginbc]

Do you know of any good deeds (initiatives, volunteer/charity works) that a skater is doing or has done? Please bear in mind that each skater has his/her own circumstances and restraints (financial, time, family obligations, etc.). Comparison between skaters is not my intention.

 

[Olympia]

I don't know about specific eligible skaters. I hope some of you will supply facts, because it would be great to praise these people for any good efforts in this direction.

I do know that Stars on Ice skaters have visited children's hospitals and suchlike on their tours, and the show itself has donated funds to various charities. It's no surprise that Scott Hamilton has been very active in children's charities, including the Make a Wish Foundation.

I remember that Shizuka Arakawa drove herself to the earthquake region to offer help and supplies, and of course many other skaters, both Japanese and non-Japanese, donated time and funds.

 

[skatinginbc]

Jeffrey Buttle and Jennifer Robinson were registered in a marathon in support of Royal Victoria Hospital Cardiac Unit http://www.barriehalfmarathon.com/n...ympic-stars-jennifer-robinson-and-jeffrey-but

The Mariposa School of Skating has been supporting the Royal Victoria Cancer Center through the proceeds of its annual Mariposa Charity Skating Gala.

Mariposa Skating Club raised money for the LGBT Youth Suicide line.

Jeffrey Buttle volunteered for World Vision and participated in the Pride Run.

Michael Weiss started the Michael Weiss Foundation to support up-and-coming figure skaters while he was still an eligible skater. Was he rich? How could he do it? I don't know. All I know is his parents were gymnasts.

 

[silverpond]

Nice thread! You know, I would not be surprised if a number of our favorite figure skaters and those who aren't as well-known, do participate in charitable and other "good works" causes, without drawing any attention to themselves. Some folks naturally attract the limelight, and I would expect that they are doing so to benefit the cause, not themselves, while others are just happy to blend in with the crowd.

 

[skatinginbc]

Joannie Rochette designed a heart-shaped pendant in collaboration with Birks to support the “iheartmom” campaign, an initiative of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute concerning heart disease research and treatment. Doesn't she look stunning in the promotion picture? http://joannierochette.ca/en/press-...designed-by-olympic-medalist-joannie-rochette According to Wikipedia, she has also worked with World Vision.

 

[trains]

Patrick Chan skated a small club carnival last year in Oshawa Ontario that he had agreed to do before worlds were postponed because of the Japanese earthquake. He came anyway, from Colorado, just before the new date of worlds, because he had promised to, and then donated his entire fee to the Japanese arthquake relief fund.

 

[Pixie Cut]

Scott Hamilton founded the Scott Hamilton CARES (Cancer Alliance for Research Education and Survivorship) Initiative in 2000. It is affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic. It's a pretty significant operation and has had a big impact in the cancer community. scottcares.org

 

[dorispulaski]

Meryl and Charlie

The U Mich drink tap water initiative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSt3jqkixdk


And being part of a benefit and special show for tsunami victims in Japan

http://dailyhouse.com/2011/07/25/gi...-to-perform-special-show-for-tsunami-victims/

World Champion ice dancers Meryl Davis And Charlie White are headlining a fundraiser and special show in Japan on July 27th to benefit the victims of the tsunami. The major problem that every disaster effort faces is that the time of reconstruction, rebuilding, and healing often take longer than the public’s attention to such crises. Like preparing for a major athletic competition, the effort to come back from a disaster takes years of dedicated, painstaking work and that is what makes Davis’ and White’s efforts so worthwhile. The Tsunami happened in March of this year and the media attention has begun to fall away, even though there are still many people in the area living in camps for evacuees. In headlining this event, Davis and White will bring much needed attention and aid to the victims of the disaster.

The show is a very special production with only 1400 invited guests – many of whom are school children who lost homes and family to the disaster. It is presented as a part of the Lotte ‘The Ice’ series of shows that are taking place across Japan this year. Spectators will be brought in by chartered busses from Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, some of the spectators are coming from evacuation centers where they have been placed since driven from their homes because of the tsunami.

In addition to headlining the event, the two will also take part in skating lessons for 130 children from the area. Donations from the event will go to the Red Cross to aid reconstruction efforts.

Charlie & Tanith also taught a class for ice dancers in MD for USFS

2011 USFS Ice Dance Camp




Sunday, 10 July 2011 12:57






The Stuff Dreams are Made of... By Andrea Gropman

On Sunday, June 26, 2011, ice dance couples from juvenile level to senior level, and representing clubs from Laurel to Los Angeles, got a taste of what it takes to be an Olympic ice dancer. That is, they participated in an ice dance seminar sponsored by U.S. Figure Skating, with special guest instruction from Tanith Belbin, 2006 Olympic silver medalist in ice dance (with partner Ben Agosto), and Charlie White, 2010 Olympic silver medalist in ice dance (with partner Meryl Davis) and current reigning world champion in ice dance. The ice dance seminar came on the heels of the Chesapeake Open competition on June 24-25, and many of the same seminar couples participated in the competition as well.


Most couples had group as well as one-on-one instruction with Belbin and/or White, and the Olympians were very gracious in allowing numerous autograph sessions and photo opportunities with the younger skaters (and parents, too).

The ice dance seminar started a few hours after the competition ended with skater-only sessions on music selection Saturday night, and resumed on Sunday at 7 a.m. sharp and finished at 4 p.m., and focused on all the elements critical to ice dancing. There were sessions on edges and power stroking, elements and levels of execution, off-ice training and instruction in expression and interpretation. Junior and senior level skaters also had an opportunity for one-on-one critiques with Olympic level judges and officials, while the parents met with ice dance officials for informal sessions, from discussing general questions about ice dance, to the more complicated issues of scoring.

Overall, it was a great experience for everyone, with many skaters expressing enthusiasm for any future camps of this nature. We are lucky to have such great coaching and skating opportunities in the Washington area. Thanks to the U.S. Figure Skating ice dance program for putting together such a terrific program and to Tanith and Charlie for inspiring so many young ice dancers.

A lot of skaters other than Davis & White also performed in that benefit show.


Additionally, Evening of Champions at Harvard is run pretty much all volunteer and the proceeds go to the Jimmy Fund for Childhood Cancer.

The Protopopov's made it again this year-they have been at almost every one. Yu Na Kim went too.

 

[dorispulaski]

Kimmie Meissner is very dedicated to her charity, Cool Kids. Even now that she is not in the limelight, she still works for this charity.
from wikipedia

Following the 2006 World Championships, Meissner became a spokesperson for the Cool Kids Campaign, an organization for children with cancer.[66] She designed gel bracelets for the organization as a fundraiser.[67] On August 25, 2007, she put on a benefit show in Baltimore called "Kimmie's Angels on Ice" to benefit the charity.[68][69] Meissner also co-edits the newsletter for the charity.[70]

 

[Violet Bliss]

Some grand charitable/humanitarian endeavors require big money or a very high profile most skaters don't have, e.g. being an UNICEF ambassador. But many of thme do what they can, often quietly. Having any number of fans means just meeting them can be very inspiring sometimes, especially in special situations.

I know Kurt Browning helped a doggie charity last year(?) in addition to his works for his own species.

I am not thrilled about Patrick Chan's involvement with McDonald's but understand he needs the sponsorship. I therefore did not bring up in the original thread his visits to Donald McDonald House to meet sick children and their families. I am glad his fulfilment of obligations to McDonalds mainly involves worthwhile causes like McHappy Day for children's charity and Olympics publicity, in addition to holding fan meetings in their restaurants. He did one this years in Vancouver in conjunction with the Olympic aniversary celebration and stayed twice as long as planned to satisfy fans who lined up for hours in the rain.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Patrick Chan skated a small club carnival last year in Oshawa Ontario that he had agreed to do before worlds were postponed because of the Japanese earthquake. He came anyway, from Colorado, just before the new date of worlds, because he had promised to, and then donated his entire fee to the Japanese arthquake relief fund.

This small club carnival had much better attendance than the US multi-star event for Japan! It was originally organized to establish a scholarship in honour of Chan's late coach Mr. Colson. As the events unfolded, Chan split his fee between the Japan relief and the scholarship. Not too sure about the proceeds. I think he needs to skate again to add to the kitty for Mr. Colson.

 

[skatinginbc]

Some grand charitable/humanitarian endeavors require big money or a very high profile most skaters don't have, e.g. being an UNICEF ambassador. But many of thme do what they can, often quietly. Having any number of fans means just meeting them can be very inspiring sometimes, especially in special situations.

I know Kurt Browning helped a doggie charity last year(?) in addition to his works for his own species.

I am not thrilled about Patrick Chan's involvement with McDonald's but understand he needs the sponsorship. I therefore did not bring up in the original thread his visits to Donald McDonald House to meet sick children and their families. I am glad his fulfilment of obligations to McDonalds mainly involves worthwhile causes like McHappy Day for children's charity and Olympics publicity, in addition to holding fan meetings in their restaurants. He did one this years in Vancouver in conjunction with the Olympic aniversary celebration and stayed twice as long as planned to satisfy fans who lined up for hours in the rain.

You mentioned Chan "visits school" in another thread when we were talking about charity works. Can you tell us more about it?

 

[Tonichelle]

Scott Hamilton founded the Scott Hamilton CARES (Cancer Alliance for Research Education and Survivorship) Initiative in 2000. It is affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic. It's a pretty significant operation and has had a big impact in the cancer community. scottcares.org

he also branched out with ChemoCare and CARES Angels which brings survivors and current battlers together to encourage those going through it that it does get better and they can make it. ChemoCare offers support to family and friends of the loved ones going through such trials.

Kurt Browning works with the Canadian version of ASPCA. He also - for as long as he's been a skating star - worked for Muscular Dystrophy (SP) awareness campaign in Canada...

SOI has been a huge supporter of Target House - even after Target stopped being the main sponsor - and there's even a garden that was put up in Sergei Grinkov's Memory for the families to walk through and sit and just heal.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Kurt Browning works with the Canadian version of ASPCA. He also - for as long as he's been a skating star - worked for Muscular Dystrophy (SP) awareness campaign in Canada...

The one I mentioned was not linked to SPCA. It was local and I saw a very cute picture of Kurt in the event.

skatinginbc, I'm not going to dig out stories of Chan visiting schoos. I have simply regularly come across reports, pictures, and videos of such visits. I remember a video of him with little kids in the rink and he said he saw himself in them and was very happy to help. I also notice whenever he participates in a club show, he spends long hours in the rink to be with the young skaters who are thrilled with his presence and help.

 

[evangeline]

Stephane Lambiel is an ambassador for SOS Children's Villages, a charity for orphaned and abandoned children. He's visited orphanages in Vietnam and South Korea for the organization, here's a video of a visit: http://youtu.be/y3VwfJrIQtM

 

[Tonichelle]

Stephane Lambiel is an ambassador for SOS Children's Villages, a charity for orphaned and abandoned children. He's visited orphanages in Vietnam and South Korea for the organization, here's a video of a visit: http://youtu.be/y3VwfJrIQtM

one more reason for me to love him! adoption is near and dear to my heart!

 

[skatinginbc]

I heard of Japanese and Korean skaters involving in charity works in their home country. Can anyone share the story of Chinese skaters doing good works in China?

 

[iluvtodd]

Sean Rabbitt and his dad organized the Skaters' Care benefit show for Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami relief this past spring in So CA.

Kristi continues to do lots of work with her Always Dream Foundation, doesn't she?

 

[attyfan]

Yu-Na is frequently involved in charitable works, donated her winnings from her silver at Worlds to Japan, and is also a good will ambassador for UNICEF. Michelle Kwan spent years raising money for children's hospitals through the Children's Miracle Network.

 

[Tonichelle]

Sean Rabbitt and his dad organized the Skaters' Care benefit show for Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami relief this past spring in So CA.

Kristi continues to do lots of work with her Always Dream Foundation, doesn't she?

yes, she also works with the USA's health department(s) on Flu Vaccination PSAs... not sure if that's a "good deed"

Oh! and she (and Kurt Browning, and a lot of the SOI skaters) partner with Boys&Girls Clubs to push reading!