SAVE THE DATE!
Join us for the 13th Annual Downhill 24: February 27-28, 2025
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Why WinterKids?
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.
We 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. WinterKids works tirelessly to create opportunities for thousands of kids across Maine to get outside and active in winter through innovative outdoor education and community programs.
Schools
move! learn! explore!
Our school programs target high need, rural areas with the least access to resources (WinterKids Learn Outside Guide, WinterKids Winter Games).
Families
Get Outside! Have Fun!
Our family programs target high-demand areas in close proximity to winter sports areas (WinterKids App, Peisner Nordic Program).
Communities
The snowball effect!
Our community events target high population areas with the greatest opportunity for broad messaging and impact on local outdoor activity (WinterKids Welcome to Winter, WinterKids Downhill 24, WinterKids Family Days, WinterKids Story Walk, Snowshoe Loan Program).
2024 Event Beneficiaries:
Our 2024 beneficiaries will receive a team at the Downhill 24 and a cash grant.
- Adaptive Outdoor Education Center
- Sugarloaf Ski Club
- Western Maine Center for Children
Past Downhill 24 Beneficiaries:
Each year, WinterKids chooses a secondary beneficiary for the event in order to support and strengthen health and outdoor programs for kids and families in the Carrabassett Valley area. Each beneficiary gets a team of up to 12 at the Downhill 24 and will keep 50% of all the money their team raises.
Since 2016, WinterKids has donated over $330,000 to these beneficiaries:
The WinterKids Downhill 24 Outdoor Fund was established to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Downhill 24 (2022) to help get even more kids outside and active across Maine and beyond. This fund will help to address the barriers to healthy outdoor activity, including but not limited to equipment, clothing, and transportation.