Shiffrin and Proffit Combine Forces to Raise over $350K
St. Louis, Missouri isn’t the first city that comes to mind when one thinks of skiing, but this past Friday the St. Louis ski community came together to raise over $350,000. Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) and hometown gal herself—new U.S. Ski & Snowboard Development Team member—Ainsley Proffit (St. Louis, Mo.) joined forces to raise funds for athletes of the organization going into this big World Championship season.
The event, hosted by U.S. Ski & Snowboard trustee Ron Kruszewski, was presented by Stifel Financial Corporation. Kruszewski serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Stifel. Through generous donations and a silent auction featuring Team gear, Olympic gear, and local St. Louis experiences and art, over $350,000 was raised to help offset athlete costs. There was great food, dancing, and entertainment by DJ Nune and a band from Kansas City called “Lost Wax”—all enjoyed by the 200-plus guests. The St. Louis community came out in full force, excited to support the athletes.
Outside of the obvious VIPs—Shiffrin and Proffit—Kruszewski was the VIP of the night, as he is a huge supporter of the Team and the driving force of the event. Standing at the door, greeting everyone with a smile as they walk in, Kruszewski instills a personal touch to the party as the ultimate host. This was the fourth time he hosted the event, and with each passing year, it has been more successful than the last. This year, the event truly had a community feel, with so many familiar faces as well as some new faces.
Shiffrin—who has been on a three-week stretch of travel across multiple time zones, going straight from a speed camp in El Colorado and Corralco, Chile to Chicago and then over to Milan—had just a couple of days home before she jumped on a plane to St. Louis for the fundraiser. She WOWed the crowd with her relaxed, fun and light disposition, and even showed them some moves on the dance floor.
Proffit attended the fundraiser with her parents, who are St. Louis locals. She fell in love with skiing at Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Wildwood, Missouri, where she was introduced to racing through NASTAR. As she said in a recent interview, “Skiing is a great sport for all ages, and offers a great time for families. While you’re skiing at Hidden Valley, you must check out the NASTAR course. It’s such a fun race held there every weekend. I took hundreds of runs on that course; it’s one of the things that got me hooked on racing.”
Shiffrin will now have some time to relax and train in the gym at home before she heads over to Europe for some on-snow training and then to kick off the FIS Ski World Cup season in Soelden, Austria on October 27th, 2018. Proffit will be skiing in the NorAm series this season, so make sure to keep an eye on her!
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