Tue, Feb 02, 2010 page18

• FEATURE : Hannah Teter uses halfpipe as charity springboard

  ROLE MODEL The Olympic snowboard champion has helped an impoverished town in Kenya to acquire basic necessities and donated US$10,000 to Haitian quake victims

  • REUTERS
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  Hannah Teter has led such a charmed life that the Olympic snowboard champion even has an ice cream flavor named after her: The Maple Blondie.

  The easygoing, 23-year-old Vermont native has fame and fortune, and concedes that making a living doing tricks on a snowboard is not a bad way to go through life.

  Yet social awareness has a big place in the soul of the 2006 Olympic halfpipe champion.

  

  Hannah Teter competes during qualification for the halfpipe portion of the 2010 US Snowboarding Grand Prix on Jan. 8 at Mammoth Mountain ski resort in Mammoth Lakes, California.

  PHOTO: AFP

  “I’ve always felt really lucky and really privileged with my life, how I grew up and the opportunities I’ve had,” she said in a recent interview.

  “From a young age I knew if I were ever to make it big in the world that I would want to be somebody who was going to give back and be a positive role model,” Teter said. “After the last Olympics, it was a prime opportunity to do something.”

  After reaching the top of the podium in Turin, Teter embarked on a charitable mission through her Web site Hannah’s Gold (www.hannahsgold.com) to help an impoverished town in Kenya to acquire basic necessities.

  “The slogan is, ‘A world that works for everybody, including everybody,’ We’re starting with Kenya, getting them clean water, and then hopefully branching out,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of my sponsors on board.”

  Despite her time-consuming charitable work, Teter maintains her focus on defending her title at this month’s Vancouver Games. Four years after winning the gold, Teter knows she will have to be even better this time around.

  “It’s definitely going to be a whole different ball game because there are so many good athletes from around the world who really want it,” she said.

  “Whoever goes the biggest, does their tricks the highest — with style — is going to bring it home that day. I have some stuff up my sleeve,” Teter said.

  Regardless of where — or if — Teter lands on the podium in Vancouver, her work aiding the less fortunate will continue.

  Her newest sponsor is Samsung, which has joined Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s ice cream among the companies helping with the Olympian’s charity work.

  Teter laughed about The Maple Blondie ice cream — named because Hannah’s Gold makes money from the sale of Vermont maple syrup, and Teter is blonde — but said it paid dividends.

  “All of the proceeds I make from Maple Blondie go to my charity, and you can read about the charity on the back of the pint,” she said.

  There is more. After finishing second in a grand prix event in Utah last month, Teter donated her US$10,000 winnings to the earthquake victims in Haiti.

  She visited Kirindon, Kenya, last October and said it “fuelled the fire” to continue giving.

  “You don’t really get the full grasp of something until you see it for yourself,” she said. “You can’t really wrap your mind around it.”

  “To see the tragedies, the kids with AIDS, the kids that are sick. The people have nothing but are still happy. They smile and want to hug you. It was a huge eye-opener for me,” Teter said.
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