WinterKids is the only nonprofit in Maine dedicated exclusively to increasing outdoor physical activity in children and families during our longest, most sedentary season.
We help children develop healthy lifelong habits through education and fun outdoor winter activities, creating opportunities for children to be active, vibrant, and healthy outdoors.
Our Impact
FY24
FY23
FY22
FY21
FY20
FY19
Impact Stories
WinterKids programs reach children in all 16 counties of Maine and beyond! These are just a few of our impact stories…
The WinterKids Team is Passionate about Helping Kids to be Active Outdoors!
It takes unique people to fill important positions in a small nonprofit with such a large reach. Our team excels at what we do and takes great pride in our programs. We work hard. We have fun. We laugh a lot. We love winter. And we love kids!
Courtney Holub
Marion Doyle
Josh Harrington
Sterlynn Marx
Tom Long
Kristel Hayes
Melissa Ferrigno
WinterKids Board of Directors
Officers
Parker Swenson
Executive Committee Chair
Mountain Mayhem Committee Chair
Manager, Operations, Diversified Communications
Chad Creelman
Downhill 24 Committee Chair
Senior Director, Sales Operation and Marketing Analytics, WEX
Ryan Larsen
Finance Committee Chair
Program Committee Chair
Corporate Merchant, Sporting Equipment, L.L.Bean
Seth Coburn
Governance Committee Chair
Licensing Committee Chair
Partner, Duane Morris, LLP
Courtney Holub
Executive Director, WinterKids
Members
Justin Brewer
WinterKids App Committee Chair
Performance Director, CRH Americas Materials, Inc.
Abe Furth
Owner, Orono Brewing Company & Wild Maine Seltzer
Jessica Gagne
Morning News Anchor, WMTW
John Giffune
Partner, Verrill Dana, LLP
Joe Lajoie
Vice President, Lajoie Brothers, Inc., Construction & Design Firm
Peter Lowell
Financial Advisor, Edward Jones
Advisory Board
William Dexter, M.D.
Become a WinterKids Sponsor
WinterKids has enjoyed many long-term partnerships, large and small, with corporate sponsors statewide. The benefits of sponsoring WinterKids are many—and we are always interested in creating custom packages that work best for your company!
Employee Engagement
Rally your employees around a source of purpose and pride in your company by supporting an important event or program in the WinterKids community with teams or volunteers.
Brand Awareness
Reach new audiences through partnership promotion on WinterKids’ website, social media, email marketing, and other assets.
Cause Marketing
Align your product or service with the WinterKids mission for a feel-good benefit that increases customer engagement.
Impact Support
Fund our WinterKids App, Learn Outside Guide & Virtual Training, WinterKids Winter Games, StoryWalk & Snowshoe Loan Program, Peisner Nordic Fund, or other initiatives to have a direct impact on kids’ early experiences, development, and physical and emotional health.
Sponsorship
Get involved in events (Mountain Mayhem, License to Chill, Welcome to Winter, Downhill 24), digital campaigns (WinterKids Fund, WinterKids App, Snowball Effect), or our dedicated WinterKids community by becoming a corporate sponsor.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Remove financial barriers and support increased outdoor activity to improve health outcomes in your community and preserve the natural heritage of Maine in winter.
Please fill out the form below if you’re interested in discussing partnership opportunities:
Major Community Sponsor
L.L. Bean and WinterKids have been partners for 17 years. Given its rich outdoor heritage, L.L. Bean supports nonprofits that engage more young people in activities such as camping, hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. L.L. Bean applauds WinterKids for our efforts in creating lifelong outdoor enthusiasts! In addition to their annual sponsorship of our programs in Maine & New Hampshire, L.L. Bean is involved with WinterKids through board membership and community events. The Outdoor Discovery School offers snowshoe lessons at our Welcome to Winter Festival and L.L.Bean employees participate in the WinterKids Downhill 24 at Sugarloaf. L.L. Bean has given more than $14 million to local, state, regional, and national outdoor conservation and recreation organizations in the last ten years.
Supporting Sponsors
Agren is proud to be working with WinterKids again this year. Since 1975, Maine’s largest independently owned appliance and mattress retailer has been serving Maine communities. Today, with six locations, community involvement and charitable participation within our communities remain core values. Agren is excited to support an organization focused on creating healthy habits and opportunities for the children of Maine.
We strive to give back to the communities in our service area by undertaking responsibilities in the neighborhoods where we work, in the schools we support, and in the environment. Our corporate sponsorship and community service programs are designed with one goal in mind: to care for the people we serve.
Harvard Pilgrim is proud to support WinterKids.
Harvard Pilgrim and its family of companies provide health benefit plans, programs and services to more than 3 million customers in New England and beyond. A leading not-for-profit health services company, we guide our members – and the communities we serve – to better health.
Kittery Trading Post is proud to support WinterKids. Since 1938, Kittery Trading Post has taken pride in offering the finest goods and services to enhance your time outdoors.
WEX believes that corporate giving is both an opportunity and a responsibility to give back to our local communities. The company’s giving is centered at its heart and headquarters in South Portland, focusing on larger gifts that benefit greater Portland and the state of Maine as a whole. WinterKids and WEX have partnered for several years through programming and event initiatives. WEX employees have a large team presence at the WinterKids Downhill 24, and believe in long-term effective partnerships with the nonprofits they support.
Zachau Construction has been a proud sponsor of WinterKids since 2016 and has a large presence at the Downhill 24, having helped found the Skin-up division.
Zachau Construction is one of Southern Maine’s leading commercial construction management companies, working with the state’s most recognized corporations, institutions, and non-profits. Above all else, their dedication to maintaining honest relationships and partnerships has carried them from their founding in 1969 by Earle Zachau into where they are today. As a 3rd-generation company, they care deeply about our people, projects, and community.
Exclusive Television Partner
WMTW is the official television partner of WinterKids. WMTW, Maine’s Total Weather and News, serves the Portland television market with studios in Westbrook. Channel 8 WMTW won a dozen honors at the 2015 Maine Association of Broadcasters annual awards ceremonies. From PSAs to on-air talent hosting our events, WMTW supports WinterKids throughout the year.
Thank you to all of our 2023/24 sponsors!
Recent Media Coverage
WinterKids Welcome to Winter event inspires kids to try winter sports
WinterKids Invites Families to Celebrate Winter at Lost Valley
Registration Now Open for 2025 WinterKids Downhill 24
WinterKids ‘Welcome to Winter’ event to be held Thursday night at Lost Valley
Registration open for 2025 WinterKids Downhill 24
WinterKids to host Welcome to Winter event in Auburn Dec. 19
WinterKids’ silent auction biggest fundraiser
WinterKids kicks off License to Chill 2024 silent auction, live event
WinterKids Winter Games 2025 application window opens
WinterKids welcomes Courtney Holub as new executive director
People on the move: WinterKids names new executive director
Children’s recreation nonprofit, WinterKids, hires executive director
WinterKids Downhill 24 Outdoor Fund Community Vote Opens July 1
Our Story
WinterKids began in 1997 as part of the Ski Maine Association with a Learn to Ski program for fifth graders. With the increasing rates of childhood obesity and the downward trend in physical fitness in Maine and across the country, there was an opportunity to help children and families enjoy healthy and fun outdoor winter lifestyles while nurturing a connection to the natural environment, at home, at school, and in the communities in which they live.
In 2000, WinterKids became an independent non-profit and continues to develop and expand innovative health education programs for kids in the winter and year-round.
WinterKids App Family Member Laurie Theberge’s Winning 2021/22 Photo Contest Submission, taken at Black Mountain of Maine
Our Areas of Impact
Students at Leroy-H.-Smith-School in Winterport, Maine, enjoying a day on the ice as part of the 2022 WinterKids Winter Games Competitive Track
WinterKids is kid-centered and teacher-approved!
WinterKids is evidence-based and results-driven!
WinterKids is backyards, playgrounds, and mountains!
Get Involved
Get Involved
There are so many different ways to support WinterKids! From donations and volunteering to Clink Bags & Amazon Smile. Learn all the different ways you can help!