Sports
�������������������������� Sherbee Antiques TOP DOLLAR PAID
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
Queens girls attend Lindsey Vonn camp
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Olympic gold medalist ski
racer Lindsey Vonn and her
foundation’s Strong Girls Camp
is centered around sports,
life skills and empowerment.
On Aug. 17 to 18, six girls
from Queens were selected to
participate in the camp and had
the pleasure of meeting Vonn.
Sponsored by Chase,
the Strong Girls Camp in
partnership with ZGiRLS, visits
a new location every year and is
free for 11- to 14-year-olds. This
year, the two-day camp was held
at Hudson Yards in Manhattan.
Three of the Queens girls,
aged 11 — Madelyn Yan of
Bayside, LeSara Cooper-May of
Laurelton, and Taylor Kendall
of Laurelton — took part in
activities such as team building
exercises, self-talk, how to turn
negatives into positives and also
a Q&A forum with Vonn.
The Lindsey Vonn
Foundation was established in
2015, which is the same year
LVF hosted its first girls camp
in Vail, Colorado, with 90 girls
in attendance.
“We’ve since gone all over
the country from Minnesota to
Los Angeles and this year, New
York City and Baltimore,” Vonn
said in a statement to QNS. “The
idea started because when I met
my idol, Picabo Street, when I
was 9 years old for five minutes,
it changed my life. So I thought,
“If five minutes could change
my life and inspire me, what can
I do in one weekend to inspire
multiple girls?”
The goal of Vonn’s camp,
she says, is to break girls out of
their shells, to help them think
positively, and encourage them
to reach their goals, giving
them the tools with all of the
foundation’s programs.
Yan, a fan of Vonn, was
excited to meet the Olympic
athlete and said the Strong
Girls Camp has helped her step
outside of her comfort zone.
“When I was younger, I
wrote about Lindsey and after
her injury she still got back up
and went to the Olympics, which
was pretty awesome,” Yan said.
“We learned how to become a
strong team and how to have
that mindset of a strong person.
It was fun to meet Lindsey and
hang out with her. The camp
made me meet new people, and
because we did a lip sync battle
it made me feel more confident
in myself.”
For Cooper-May and
Kendall, it was an overall good
experience filled with fun and
they look forward to attending
another event in the future.
“I learned not to judge
yourself, to believe in yourself,”
Cooper-May said. “Lindsey Vonn
was really nice and I feel happy
after attending the camp.”
This is the second year
Chase has sponsored the camp
and contributed their expertise
to cyber safety and a financial
workshop — two topics that are
highly important to Vonn.
“I think you’re never too
young to learn how to budget
money and today the internet is
a huge part of these girls lives.
But it’s so easy, almost too easy,
to become a victim of cyber
hacking,” Vonn said. “The life
skills workshops are designed
to make girls aware of how to
keep themselves safe, and also
understand the importance
of budgeting and saving. You
can never be too young to start
on a path of financial health!
Chase has made a multi-year
commitment to financial health
education, and I’m so glad to
have them on board to help
these girls achieve their future
financial goals.”
Vonn’s foundation has also
been working in partnership
with ZGiRLS from the beginning
of 2015.
“They have a great team
of mentors who are athletes
themselves who really
understand the girls and how
important the curriculum is,”
Vonn said.
Growing up, Vonn struggled
with exuding confidence and for
her, it’s been the hardest battle
to overcome.
(From l. to r.) The Queens participants included Angela Fan, Lily
Tekverk, Madelyn Yan, Olympic athlete Lindsey Vonn, Taylor Kendall
and Pari Natni, at the LVF Strong Girls Camp held in Hudson Yards
“It’s hard for everyone. We
all have self-doubt and need
encouragement but that’s
something you need to learn,”
Vonn said. “If kids aren’t
learning this at home — they’re
not learning it. That’s why it’s
so important for us to start this
program to teach these girls
early on that there are steps you
can take to help yourself and to
help others build self-esteem.”
Vonn added, “My message to
young girls who are struggling
with confidence, motivation and
stepping outside of their comfort
zone is to just remember to do the
best you can every day. It doesn’t
matter what people think — as
long as you’re doing your best —
that’s all the matters.”
So far, Baltimore, MD, will be
the fifth state state in five years
the camp has visited, Vonn said.
“We started in Colorado (one
camp in Vail and one in Denver),
gone to Minnesota, California,
New York and heading to
Baltimore this September,”
Vonn said. “We usually try to
find a state that needs it, we have
a connection to, and has been
requested. So follow us on our
social to see if we’re coming to
your home state next summer!”
HELP YOU FIND YOUR POT OF GOLD S h Aernbtiequees Est. 1940
TOP DOLLAR PAID
Instant Cash
LET SHERBEE ANTIQUES’ OVER 60 YEARS EXPERIENCE
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM AUG. 30-SEPT. 5, 2019 37
/TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM
