Ice Skating for Everyone (ISFE) is a charity that provides skating opportunities to children from underserved communities in Fairfield County, Connecticut. I have been a part of this program ever since it operated as the Horizons Learn to Skate program and then later as it was relaunched into ISFE by the current president and founder, Emily Kelting. After spending multiple years working with these students, helping mentor and instruct them on how to skate, I knew I wanted to do my ISP in support of this foundation.
For my ISP, I decided to host a donation drive to collect youth skates and helmets for the young skaters. The interest in ISFE is high as many kids want the opportunity to learn to skate, but unfortunately, they are unable to afford skates and helmets themselves. This drive was crucial as the beginning of a new season was approaching and there was a shortage of equipment necessary to run the program. As a youth hockey referee and someone who has played hockey since the age of 5, I reached out to my contacts in the local skating community to ask if they had spare youth skates or helmets to donate. In less than two weeks, we were able to gather over 20 pairs of both figure and ice skates, as well as 14 youth helmets, while also raising awareness for this charitable program.
As the 2022 sessions are starting up, ISFE now has the equipment to offer skating instruction to more students. Skating has been a very important part of my life, so I’m extremely happy I was able to give these kids an opportunity to experience the joy of skating through my ISP as a Henrik Lundqvist Foundation Youth Ambassador.
Written by 2022 HLFYA Sean Watchmaker
