The Winter Olympics in Beijing are well underway, but for many African American children watching the 24th Winter Games, they’ll see very few athletes from the United States that look like them. While Black athletes compete in a number of sports at the Summer Olympics, few Black athletes compete in the winter games. Analysts chalk it up to a lack of access to the facilities used to practice for these sports. It’s fitting then that Motel 6 has teamed up with Share Winter Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving youth’s lives, health, and fitness through winter sports, in an effort to make skiing and snowboarding more accessible for children in California.
Through this partnership, Motel 6 takes care of the transportation to and from two mountain resorts for 150 local children. The young people, nearly 60 percent are Black or Brown, come from five diverse organizations across the state of California, including: Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Redlands-Riverside, Ketchum Downtown YMCA, Brotherhood Crusade, the Boys and Girls Club of San Gorgonio Pass and Big Pine Schools.
While some Americans are able to jet off to ski towns and swanky resorts to enjoy the snow and cool temps needed for skiing and snowboarding, the cost of these trips can be prohibitive for those who lack financial resources.
"With Motel 6 as our very first lodging partner, we are teaming up to prove that affordable skiing and snowboarding opportunities exist," Constance Beverley, CEO of Share Winter Foundation said in a statement shared with EBONY. "Thanks to the support of Motel 6, we have the opportunity to provide transportation for the children to and from the mountain, which is typically one of the greatest roadblocks to youth snow sports participation."
Share Winter Foundation (Share Winter) is a nonprofit grant-making organization working to improve the lives, health, and fitness of youth through winter sports. Their goal is to “create a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming winter sports community.” The organization partners with other select organizations to build winter sports programs and pipelines to ongoing winter sports participation. With their help, the next Winter Olympics could see more diversity. Their mission is to share winter with 100,000 youth by 2028.
