I recently received an email with some cool ways Vermont Ski areas are making a difference. There are so many ways to help others no matter what your company does. Check this out!

T’IS THE (WINTER) SEASON FOR GIVING

MONTPELIER, Vt. - The word ‘giving’ means a lot in these parts; it’s a way of life. Individual citizens, communities, businesses and families work to help one another in creative, often motivating ways. At Vermont ski resorts, we give ourselves to our passions; be they the pursuit of a sport or prosperity for others - and often, it’s a beautiful combination of the two, via on-mountain fund raising or donation of events’ proceeds.

Here are some stories we’d like to pay forward:

Ascutney Mountain Resort
What do you get when you add 250 grad students, 50 pounds of bruschetta and five very tired friends? The Puff Pastries and the Stale Cruller! Elbow deep in food while catering a large function in our Base Lodge, Ascutney Mountain Resort family members, Susan Plausteiner, Trisha Kurtzhalz, Tom Mansfield, Lucille Plausteiner and Amanda Plausteiner Smith, pledged to join together to walk/ride in the 28th Prouty (http://www.theprouty.org/) to benefit the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The Puff Pastries chose the 10K wooded walk while the Stale Cruller went his own way and rode the 50K. Together, the team raised more than $1,000 and pledged to double their efforts in 2010.

Bolton Valley
Bolton Valley is not only the “locals” ski area but also a resort that serves the local community. Working with various local, statewide and national organizations, Bolton Valley seeks to better the community it is a part of.

Bolton Valley is the original home to Chill, a program geared to working with underserved youth and teaching core values while snowboarding at the same time. Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports also expanded its operations last year to include Bolton Valley. VASS services the needs of disabled skiers and riders by providing them with special equipment and instruction on the mountain. Visit Bolton’s Chill for more info.

Burke Mountain
The Burke Mountain Sled Dog Dash, now in its fourth year, has raised over $40,000 for local children’s charities in the Northeast Kingdom. Burke is also the host of many other fundraising events throughout the year.

Killington
Over the past five years, Killington Resort has donated more than $35,000 to the United Way of Rutland County through both winter and summer United Way Days.

Mad River Glen
One of the most important annual events at Mad River Glen is known as Greenwood Week.  In honor of ski patrolman, Lee Greenwood, who was killed in a tragic car accident in 1974.  Designed to share his love of skiing with disadvantaged kids, Greenwood Week is an “Outward Bound” type of experience that encourages kids to challenge themselves and overcome their fears. Greenwood Week embodies Mad River’s sense of community as it builds self esteem and teaches group dynamics while having fun. Skiing, equipment and food are donated by Mad River; the Montclair Ski Club donates its lodge. A highlight of the week is seeing Lee Greenwood’s children, Chris and Jennifer, both Mad River Ski Patrollers, actively keeping their father’s legacy alive.

Okemo Mountain Resort
When it comes to the local community and charitable giving, Okemo operators Tim and Diane Mueller set a tone that filters throughout resort staff and guests alike. Education is a recurring theme in the Muellers’ philanthropic efforts. Diane has served on the Vermont State Board of Education and she founded the Okemo Community Challenge to support arts and technology in the Okemo Valley region’s schools. Okemo awards scholarships to staff and staff dependents annually and the Okemo Academic Reward program awards season passes to local students in grades 7-12 who achieve and maintain Honor Roll status.

Okemo is host to numerous events that benefit area food pantries and assistance organizations. For more than a decade, Okemo Mountain Resort staff members have been celebrating Valentine’s Day by donating to the resort’s Have a Heart Program to benefit the Upper Valley United Way and Okemo matches donations for departments that achieve a participation rate of 90 percent or better. Okemo promotes a culture of support for its community and encourages staff to experience the personal rewards that come with helping neighbors in need. Get the entire story on Okemo’s giving.

Pico Mountain
Over the past five years, Pico Mountain has donated more than $35,000 to the United Way of Rutland County through both winter and summer United Way Days.

Smugglers’ Notch Resort
For 20 years Smugglers’ Notch Resort has hosted families sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. These visits are enthusiastically supported by resort employees, who have donated holiday tree ornaments, delicious treats, cards and mementos to the families to enhance their stays. Visiting children have built snowmen, taken rides on snowmobiles behind ski patrollers, laughed through snowboarding lessons, and grinned during sleigh rides, and leave with fond memories of their family’s special Vermont holiday.

Smugglers’ also provides support to a variety of community efforts, including the local food shelf, the United Way, the Green Mountain Club, and the Cambridge Arts Council. The resort’s landscaping and flower crews maintain the beautiful flower beds in several prominent spots in nearby Jeffersonville. In keeping with its mission of environmental stewardship, the resort provided the site for the development of the nonprofit Gateway to Nature program, an educational effort uniting the resort and local community in support of environmental stewardship and education.

Stowe Mountain Resort
A very special event will take place January 7 - 9, 2010 at Stowe Mountain Resort. Members of the business and media communities will come together to ski-race and raise money for three charities that offer hope and comfort to children in desperate need.

The Financial Communications Society (FCS) is the presenting sponsor. Participating teams enjoy receptions and race camps prior to the competition. The main event takes place Saturday 1/9 with a dual slalom race. Since year 2000, this event has raised over one million dollars for The Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund, Downy Side, and Make-A-Wish Foundation.

About the Charities: The Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund raises money to enhance pediatric cancer research and helps patients and their families in special need of assistance Downey Side is a non-sectarian non-profit agency based national charity dedicated to the belief that every child deserves the right to a permanent family, placing older children that would otherwise remain homeless into loving homes. The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Please visit www.fcsraceforkids.org/.

Stratton Mountain
What started in the backyard of Dr. Carlos Otis’ house in 1964 has grown into a program that last year alone brought 800 local schoolchildren to Stratton Mountain weekly for skiing and riding.

The Junior Instructional Ski Program, or JISP, makes it possible for local kids between the ages of eight and eighteen to experience the joys of skiing at a very low cost.

In addition to offering inexpensive access to the mountain, free instruction, and instructor training, JISP also serves another important function; outfitting its members with new and used ski and snowboard equipment. Spearheading this effort is Stratton Ski School Supervisor Taffy Morgan who has been involved with the program for over 30 years. Taffy’s involvement with JISP actually pre-dates her employment with Stratton Mountain and is a strong testament to her commitment to the cause. “It has been a wonderful thing for a bunch of kids who wouldn’t have had the opportunity to ski otherwise” Morgan says.

Trapp Family Lodge
The Trapp Family Lodge hosts the only Nordic Relay for Life annually, with hundreds of cross-country skiers and snowshoes honoring loved ones, raising funds and supporting the American Cancer Society from dusk to dawn, March 6-7, 2010.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go towww.TimRichardson.com

A few days ago, I posed this quote on Twitter and Facebook:

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain!”

Shortly after, I received a note from a post college roommate of mine who is now a doctor. He is serving for one year in Iraq with the national guard.  His comments made me appreciate three things:

1) My shower and access to clean water

2) People like him who are serving in our armed forces

3) How technology can re-connect people.  Here’s his note to me:

Last night we had a rare thunderstorm in Iraq.  It was raining hard and I had just finished working out on a cross trainer in the STP building.  I was drenched in sweat and needed a shower.  But because our showers are a 1/4 mile away I knew that i would have to walk back through the mud and the pouring rain after the shower and get wet and maybe even more dirty.  So my roommate, Bert, said: ‘Well, you could just take a shower in the rain’.  So I kept my gym shorts on and stood on the ramp outside of our back door with a bottle of shampoo and showered in the rain.

While it was a cold shower to be sure, it got the job done and I didn’t have to walk back through the mud covered camp.   I could have commented ‘or shower in the rain’ to your post, but then I didn’t want you to think that I was making a glib statement about your post.   Anyway, I thought I would share my funny story with you.  But whether dancing or showering, one way or another I did something creative instead of ‘waiting for the storm to pass’.   And yeah, sometimes we have to be a little crazy over here to keep our sanity.

I’d be interested to hear any RICH stories any one has experienced as a result of reconnecting with a friend due to Facebook, Twitter, etc. Please thank a soldier today…

Live RICH!

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go towww.TimRichardson.com

I don’t eat hotdogs but I would visit Felony Franks in a minute. I love it when an entrepreneur figures out a way to both help others while operating a for profit business. It seems like a win/win to me.  Of course, I might feel not feel as enthusiastic if my kids walked by Felony Franks on their way home from school.  It seems that there are lots of well-meaning people who want to help others but have the “not in my backyard” mentality. If Felony Franks is helping convicted felons start a new while keeping them crime free then I say - fantastic! Franchise freely.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving affects employee engagement , morale,  productivity, turnover, and customer loyalty for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and health care organizations.  He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go towww.TimRichardson.com

Yesterday Forbes magazine released their annual list of the 400 Richest People in America.  Like every other year they have published their list, they missed A LOT of people. Almost every day I hear stories of some of the REAL Richest Americans, people who are RICH because they give back and make a difference in the lives of others. Some have started incredible philanthropies that have global reach. Others are doing things to make their communities better. There are a number of RICH people who have organizations that help kids and in many cases are started by kids. I am in total AWE of what young people today do to give back.

This month, I’ll be profiling some of these people who will never make the Forbes list but have internal richness like most rich (wealthy) people will never have. While most of the people I will be profiling will have organizations that are doing good, I also want to share some stories of people who are RICH because of how they handle adversity. My professional speaker friend John O’Leary (who has his own incredible story of overcoming adversity) shared the story below of  his father who has Parkinson’s disease. I think you’ll be en-RICHED by this story of someone who has put a positive spin on a very negative situation. Here’s an exert about John’s dad:

For almost two decades my Dad has battled against Parkinson’s disease.  It is a degenerative disorder that gradually impacts motor skills, speech and cognitive function.  In time, Parkinson’s disease rips away one’s ability to work, type, write, drive, walk, and speak.  As a result it becomes increasingly difficult to socialize with others or participate in personal hobbies.  As obviously difficult as this disease is for my Dad, it amazes me that I’ve never heard him complain.

I asked dad how he remains so positive when dealing with such difficulty. He responded that he couldn’t possibly be negative when he’s got so much to be
grateful for.   I then asked him to share with me three things he’s grateful
for as a result of Parkinson’s disease.  Dad responded immediately:

.         I am grateful it wasn’t a more serious disease
.         The time to reflect on who I am and who God is
.         The relationship I have with Mom  - we’ve grown even closer

Here is a disease that rips everything from the sufferer (and he is grateful it wasn’t worse); forces them into isolation (and he is grateful for the time to reflect); and causes them to be dependent on others (and he is grateful for that relationship).  More striking then the three answers was he said he had more:

.         I am grateful for medical technology - and those who provide it
.         For the empathy that comes from this disease for others with
challenges
.         When I can’t walk, I am grateful for the days I could
.         When I can’t speak, I am grateful for the days I could
.         When we drive, I am grateful for the handicap spot
.         For the time to write Overwhelming Odds
.         To still see, hear, learn, laugh, and love
.         And for being healed, even if not cured

As you go through your day today (a day that will absolutely come with its own challenges), are there things within it that you can be grateful for?
Remember, gratitude will turn ‘problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.’

Now THAT is a RICH story.

BTW, I released a press release today about the project to find the REAL Richest People in America. Please pass it on…

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go towww.TimRichardson.com