About Us

WinterKids helps children develop healthy lifelong habits through education and fun, outdoor winter activity. We create opportunities for children to be active, vibrant and healthy in the outdoors.

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Our Impact

WinterKids is the only nonprofit in Maine dedicated exclusively to increasing outdoor physical activity in children and families during our longest, most sedentary season.

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Students, Teachers and Families Impacted in Maine & New Hampshire since 2010!

FY23

June 1, 2022-May 31, 2023

FY22

June 1, 2021-May 31, 2022

FY21

June 1, 2020-May 31, 2021

FY20

June 1, 2019-May 31, 2020

FY19

June 1, 2018-May 31, 2019
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Students at the Dedham School in Dedham, Maine, getting outside as part of the WinterKids 5th Anniversary Winter Games Play-Along Track

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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!

TeamWinterKids
Julie Mulkern

Julie Mulkern

Executive Director
Marion Doyle

Marion Doyle

Education Director
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Josh Harrington

Family Programs & Outreach Manager
Sterlynn Marx

Sterlynn Marx

Events & Sponsorships Manager
Tom Long

Tom Long

Program Manager
Melissa Ferrigno

Melissa Ferrigno

Administrative & Volunteer Manager
Kristel Hayes

Kristel Hayes

Marketing Manager
Molly Beeley

Molly Beeley

Events Intern

WinterKids Board of Directors

Officers

Parker Swenson

President

Executive Committee Chair
Project Manager, Operations, Diversified Communications

Chad Creelman

Vice President

Downhill 24 Committee Chair
Senior Director, Sales Operation and Marketing Analytics, WEX

Ryan Larsen

Treasurer

Finance Committee Chair
Corporate Merchant, Sporting Equipment, L.L.Bean

Seth Coburn

Past President

Licensing Committee Chair
Partner, Duane Morris, LLP

Julie Mulkern

Secretary

Executive Director, WinterKids

Members

Justin Brewer

Performance Director, CRH Americas Materials, Inc.

Jennifer Flynn

Mountain Mayhem Committee Chair
Family Nurse Practitioner, Urgent Care, Cape Integrative Health

Dirk Gouwens

Executive Director, Ski Maine Association

Tom Fremont-Smith

Stephen Lindsay

WinterKids App Committee Chair
Director of Sales and Marketing, Greenhead Lobster

Sarah Long

Program Committee Chair
Meteorologist, WMTW

Jillian Rich

Marketing Committee Chair

Gabe Weiss

Governance Committee Chair
Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Emburse

Jeff Zachau

Advisory Board

Julia Clukey

Maine Olympic Luger

William Dexter, M.D.

Medical Advisor

Director of Sports Medicine, Maine Medical Center

Seth Wescott

2-time Maine Olympic Gold Medalist in Snowboardcross

Major Community Sponsor

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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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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 2022/23 sponsors!

FY23 Sponsor Logo Grid

Recent Press Releases

Recent Media Coverage

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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

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Our Areas of Impact

SCHOOLS

Outdoor Fun
MOVE! LEARN! EXPLORE!
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    WinterKids Winter Games
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    Learn Outside Guide for Elementary & Early Childhood
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    Free Snowshoe & StoryWalk Loan Program
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    Free outdoor learning activity ideas and printables

FAMILIES

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GET OUTSIDE! BE ACTIVE! HAVE FUN!
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    The WinterKids App
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    WinterKids Family Days
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    Welcome To Winter at Lost Valley
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    Free outdoor learning activity ideas and printables

COMMUNITIES

Winter Games 2020 Week 3 Dr Levesque Elementary School 4
THE SNOWBALL EFFECT!
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    Downhill 24 Outdoor Fund
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    Free Snowshoe & StoryWalk Loan Program
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    Mountain Mayhem at Mt. Abram
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    License to Chill at Après
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    Downhill 24 at Sugarloaf
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    Peisner Nordic Fund

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

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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!

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