Dear Supporters,
There will be a bowling fund raiser event on November 21st. The event starts at 1 PM and will be hosted at:
Collier Lanes
879 S. Lapeer Road
Oxford, MI 48371
The money raised will go towards me, Jennifer Berrigan, as a snowboard athlete on the USA Deaflympics team. Unlike athletes who are selected for the Olympics, our American Deaf athletes must pay their own way to the Deaflympics. This fund raiser will make it possible for me to achieve my dream: representing my country, the United States of America, in this prestigious international event, and winning a medal for our country. I will need to raise $2,500 dollars to cover the flights and the transportations, boarding, training and athletic apparel. I also need to raise an additional $1,000 dollars to help pay for my season pass for this coming winter so I can go to Colorado to train in their facilities before competing in Slovakia. I will need all the help I can get, in any shape or form, and I believe this fund raiser will make this possible.
About the Deaflympics: The 17th Winter Deaflympics, to be held in High Tatras, Slovakia February 18-26, 2010, will offer competition featuring the world’s best deaf athletes. The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf founded the Summer Deaflympics in 1924, making the games the world’s second-oldest multinational sporting event, after the Olympics. The Winter Deaflympics was added in 1949. Sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, the Deaflympics are held every four years at a different site around the world. To learn more about the Deaflympics, go to www.deaflympics.com.
Competition will be world class, with elite deaf athletes from around the world competing in alpine skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, ice hockey and curling.
I, Jennifer Berrigan, am very pleased to announced that I have been selected to be on the snowboard team and will be competing in the Half Pipe and Boardercross events. A little about my background: I am a resident of Highland, Michigan. Ten years ago, Pine Knob was the ski resort where I first learned how to snowboard. I instantly became hooked, so I began going to ski resorts around the east coast while going to Gallaudet University in Washington DC. After graduating in the winter of 2005, I made a brave decision to move out west to Colorado with an intention to try out for a spot on the 2007 winter Deaflympics team. Upon my arrival, I realized I had a ways to go, and I needed to progress more at a competition level before having a shot to be on the team. Needless to say, I did not make the team back then. So, I set a new goal to get on the 2011 snowboarding team. I spent four years in Colorado progressing in snowboarding throughout the winter seasons and showing my commitment by going to summer training camps. When the next tryouts came around last year winter, I came ready to blow the coaches out of the water and to show them my true potential to win the gold as an deaf American woman snowboarder. And I did just that. Now, getting on the team is one thing, but getting to the competition is another.
So, this brings us to this fund raiser event I will be having! Not only will it help turn my dream into a reality, it’s also a great opportunity to bring awareness of the importance of the Deaflympics in the deaf community!
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. Go USA!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Berrigan
Snowboard Athlete
2661 Briar Cliff Dr.
Highland, MI 48357
jennifer.berrigan@gmail.com
http://jennayberry.blogspot.com/