BOISE, Idaho — St. Luke's partnered with McU Sports to help gift 78 helmets to the organization Boise Adaptive Snowsport Education on Tuesday.
- The organization helps bring ski and snowboarding instruction to students with dissabilities.
- 16 of the 78 helmets had a modification that attaches snow goggles to the helmet, specifically for students with different sensory needs.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
A huge donation, for the organization "Boise Adaptive Snow sport Education", or BASE.
The group's Snow sport director, Becki Walters knows what a difference these adaptive helmets will make.
"It's an amazing gift from St. Lukes to keep our community active, keep our community safe," Walters said.
BASE's goal is to provide opportunities to individuals with disabilities by teaching them how to ski or snowboard. Doing that has been Becki's dream since cancer took one of her legs when she was in high school.
"Because of the cancer, I lost my leg and I had the opportunity to go skiing and it completely rocked my world." Walters said. "I came back from Colorado to Illinois and I was like I have to move because I just fell in love with it."
St. Luke's partnered with McU Sporting Goods to get 78 new helmets for the BASE program.
The McU employee, Lynne Wieland, spurred the partnership. She had a son in the BASE program decades ago. She knows firsthand the impact of the program especially the instructors, who all volunteer.
"It might be the one day a week that they're able to go skiing, and they give up that day so they can get people like my son and other people with special needs out on the hill because skiing really is just, it's freedom"
16 of the 78 helmets have an adaptive feature. They come with snow goggles that slide up and down. Walters says it makes so much difference.
"Our students with Autism often have issues with sensory things, touching them," Walters said. "And many of them refuse to wear goggles or sunglasses, so this is great because it protects them from the sun and from the snow but it doesn't touch their face."
Students will receive the helmets when sessions start in January.
