Do you recall those qualities about Bend that lead you here in pursuit of your dream? Could the outdoor recreation opportunities have been an influence? Might the year around climate have mattered too? What about your family? Did you feel that they’d thrive here as opposed to the overcrowded conditions where you previously lived and the long commutes you faced for whatever their activities required?
My purpose is to bring attention to a local business in Central Oregon that isn’t well known. Let me introduce you to a group based upon raising children’s responsibly and promoting their opportunities with an institution fostering their needs as they become young adults. What is more indigenous than our kids who learn and grow here? I would like to draw your attention to the current and future generation of Central Oregon kids and explore just what kind of growing conditions and opportunities we are providing. In many instances families have relocated from urban cultures with the expectation the kids will thrive here, and rightly so. So, how are the schools? They will be shaped by their peers in their pursuits beyond academics. The company they keep along with the activities they’ll choose becomes highly influential. Can I suggest looking beyond academics and talk about nurturing their personal pursuits for competition and excellence?
MBSEF, (Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation), formerly Bend Skyliners, may play a very large role in forging your children’s character. They offer programs in Alpine and Nordic skiing, Freeride and mountain biking. Many Olympians were former Bend Skyliners/MBSEF participants. The program isn’t exclusively about athletic achievement, but is designed to foster good sportsmanship and the hope that a great number of student athletes will carry forward these character building traits into their lives as community members. The athletes are fiscally responsible by performing many fund raising events that engage the program recipients in learning about marketing, sales and being a responsible citizen in our community. The core values that all MBSEF athletes strive to achieve can be summarized with the acronym is CHASE. CHASE stands for Commitment,
Honesty, Accountability, Sportsmanship and Excellence, and these values are instilled in all MBSEF athletes.
MBSEF has launched their campaign 2017-2020, A Place To Soar, and is accepting donations from businesses and private parties to build its first permanent site and training facility on their 49,000 square foot lot. A custom building designed to support strong interactions between coaches and athletes is in the offing. The site is ideally situated just off Skyliners Road at 2765 Lolo Dr. in proximity to the heart of Bend and access to training areas year-round.
The capital campaign team is comprised of 16 individuals all of whom share a passion to see this project become successful. They are Frank Cammack, Peter Carlson, Howard Friedman, Dr. Brett Gingold, Lea Hart, Molly Cogswell-Kelley, Dennis Oliphant, Charley Miller, Peter Miller, Dr.
Zach Porter, Dr. Rod Ray, Jeff Robberson, John Schiemer, Kirk Schueler, Hayden Watson, and Kyle Wieche. Please reach out to any of these individuals to learn firsthand just how you might influence this project’s outcome. You may also make connect directly to their website at http://mbsef.org/ or contact Executive Director John Schiemer at john@mbsef.org.
So, please take a moment and think how you might pitch this campaign to your Corporation or those influential in your company who may feel a civic responsibility to payback the community. Making a qualitative difference for family’s life experiences for years to come was a core value of our community in 1927 when Skyliners/MBSEF was founded. Just as before, we all benefit from having a solid legacy laid down so our children can continue to receive training, leadership skills and a sense of community.
