Sports

Help Michelle Skate To Regionals & Beyond!

• Jaw-Dropping
• Courageous
• Beautiful

Michelle: Hi, my name is Michelle.  Welcome to my crowdfunding site.  My mom and I have been working hard to make it a success, and we can’t do it without the help everyone who visits here.  I am 13 year old girl and an Intermediate level skater.  This year I plan on training six days a week and 2-3 hours a day.  I hope to compete in one competition every month starting in May.  Some of my goals are to take 1^st at the Minnesota State Competition and make it to Jr. Nationals.  Other goals I have in skating are to do well at every competition, land my double axel and hopefully a triple.  Right now what I’m doing to help stay in this sport financially is baby-sitting.  I have also done some modeling and hope to do more.  I put all the money toward skating.  I also use all my birthday money for skating.

Mom:  We really appreciate your taking the time to check us out.  Michelle is a talented young skater.  She is disciplined and dedicated.  We are hoping to raise money to get Michelle to Regionals in October.  We think she is good enough to make it all the way to Nationals in the coming year.  But figure skating is an expensive sport and we need help to get there.  There are two important things you can do to help:  make a contribution and/or spread the word through emails, Facebook, Twitter, blogs and any other media you can.

Michelle:  My coach is Thomas Amon, with the Figure Skating Club of Bloomington.  He is really inspiring and pushes me to do the best I can.  I feel like he is always there when I need him and that he supports me in my goals.  He is fun and firm at the same time.  I know that he can help me go far.   

      At school I am a straight A student.  I’m also in all the advanced placement classes.  Although my extra time is very limited I participate in Operation Christmas Child at my church and I also participate in Feed My Starving Children. 

Mom:  My Name is Kate Zabinski and I am Michelle’s mom. Twelve and a half years ago I stood in a hotel in Hangzhou, China as this little tiny baby was placed in my arms.  I could never imagine the journey I was about to begin.  She made me a mom and I have been grateful ever since.  Back then she weighed a mere 12 pounds at 10 months old.  She could not even sit up yet, or roll over.  Within three months she had completely caught up developmentally.  She possessed an innate body confidence that I have always envied.  She was climbing on playground equipment, well over my head, by the time she was two.  Her athleticism and drive continue to amaze me.

Michelle has all the pieces but one.  She has talent, drive, and a powerful work ethic.  What she and her families lack is money.  My husband and I are stretched thin financially trying to raise 6 children (not including the one out of the house and in the Air Force).  We do whatever we can to keep all our kids in sports, including trolling the alleys for scrap metal.  We volunteer, do taste tests, whatever we can to make this happen.

I’m divorced from her dad, but he and his family have not fared well in this economy either.  He would do anything to help Michelle and works whatever overtime is available to him, but it is nowhere near enough.  This is a $20,000 a year sport, at minimum.  That is a huge amount for people in our position to raise.  One hour of ice time is $12.  And Michelle is skating a couple hours a day.  By fall she hopes to be skating full time and studying online in the evenings.  There are so many expenses:  the coach’s fees, skates, sharpenings, competition fees, and costumes .  Our goal for this crowdfunding opportunity is to raise $5,000.  Anything we raise over that will also go to Michelle’s skating and we will have other fundraising efforts throughout the year.   Lastly, I just want to offer a heartfelt thanks to all of you who have helped us get this far.  So many friends, family members and other supporters have given generously to Michelle’s skating career.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Please take the time to share our site with anyone you can think of.  Spreading the word far and wide is the best way to ensure the success of our efforts.  We want to thank the two following blogs for their support of Michelle's fundraising goal.  http://worldskating.blogspot.com/2011/04/is-american-dream-still-alive.html , http://www.blazingblades.com/,   http://blog.daum.net/sadprince57/ (this is a Korean language blog),http://www.manleywoman.com/and http://fromtheboards.wordpress.com/  Please check them out. 

We are unable to take tax deductible contributions through the RocketHub website.  If this is important to you, please consider a contribution to the 

• New England Amateur Skating Foundation 
• P.O. Box 6881
• Providence, RI 02940

  They have done wonderful work supporting young skaters.  If you do contribute through them we’d appreciate it if you would mention Michelle or write her name in the memo line, so that they know we are out here spreading the word about their organization.  You may suggest a skater you would like to support but the board will make the final determination.

. RocketHub is not an investment or charity. It is an exchange: funds from fans for rewards from us.  Please check out the side bar to see the reward menu.

A very special thank you to Amber Van Wyk and IceArt for the beautiful video and great photos of Michelle.