Hitting The Slopes For Charity

I went to Aspen this past weekend and skied in a celebrity race to benefit Aspen Youth Experience.  What started out as a fun ski weekend to Aspen with friends turned out to be a moving experience for all of us.

A young woman named Ayesha, who raced on my team incidentally, got up on Saturday night dressed beautifully and spoke of her painful journey in life.  From early teen alcohol abuse to being sexually assaulted by a group of boys one awful day at a bus stop, this girl got up and told us all what happened to her and how Aspen Youth Experience came into her life at when the whole thing looked like a dead end.

This charity takes at youth teens and sets them up in Aspen with families who are privileged. They ski, they taste the better life, they enter workshops with other kids and share painful but MUTUAL experiences.  They heal together and inevitably they come out alright.  After they leave Aspen, AYE does monthly follow-ups to make sure the kids are ok until they return again. 

I cried during young Ayesha's speech. She is now a mother AND a staff sergeant in the Us Army.  I’m crying now just typing this.  Her interest is communications.  I told her I'd hire her if she wanted a job someday with me.  Note to boss, sorry if we weren't hiring, but we have to on this one.  I'll pay her salary if need be.  The kid is bright and way beyond "battle tested".