Ty
Los Angeles, California
“My favorite theme is persistence. When you fall, you have to get back up because we’re all learning and we’re all falling hard. The snow feels like concrete, so we just have to get back up and be persistent about going down the mountain. When thinking about persistence in my everyday life, school is really hard so you have to be determined because you will get a bad grade once in a while, but you have to pick yourself up and get back on track.”
Ty had such an infectious smile and was so fun to photograph. She was brave, well-spoken, and delighted to be doing something that she had never dreamt of doing.
Leon
Originally from South Africa, raised in Washington, D.C.
“Rob [Leon’s Chill mentor] taught me everything I know, he taught me to trust my board. At first I was little shy [about snowboarding]. There was this hill in Pennsylvania and I was a little bit scared and Rob was like, “You know what? You gotta have courage and go down this hill”, and I was like, you know what? I’m going to try it out. At that moment, I was like, I’m going to do this – and I did, I made it down that hill.”
Leon expressed his gratitude for the Chill community and their dedication to making sure he’s taken care of and having fun. He was thankful to be enjoying the sunshine in Vail and hopes to return again soon.
June Heston
Executive Director of the Chill Foundation
“The best part of my job is meeting these kids and seeing them in action. I feel like that what we’re doing and the lifestyle choices we’re instilling in them is really having a huge impact, but it’s impacting me as well. I had a young man tell me last year that he had been in and out of rehab a few times, and when he got involved with Chill, he said, “I would never do drugs again, snowboarding is now my new drug and because of Chill, I’m going to spend my life helping people.” How can you not love going to work everyday when you know that that’s the impact your having?”
June had the most incredible and authentic passion when she was describing her experience working with Chill. Her involvement over the past four years has brought the Chill program to where it stands now and her impact is most definitely meaningful.
The Chill Foundation aims to enrich the lives of youth through all boardsports, including: surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and stand-up paddleboarding in 12 locations across the country. If you would like to get involved with Chill, please consider volunteering with a program near you.
