Former Town of Webb School alpine skier Chantelle Heroux is known around the area as an extreme skier. She has competed in national and international Big Mountain Races and freestyle skiing events in such locations as Lake Tahoe and New Zealand.

As a member of the local Polar Bear Ski Club, she is proud to call McCauley Mountain her home mountain and Old Forge her second home.

Heroux, the daughter of Maureen and Roger Heroux, also has a passion for skateboarding. Her love of the sport has inspired her to work with Bridge To Skate, a California-based 501(C)(3) public charity that uses skateboarding and play to aid in the creation of life skills, promotion of health, fostering peace and the education of cultural differences internationally.

Her involvement with the charitable organization has taken her to Los Laureles, a tiny community that borders Nicaragua, where she hopes to fulfill her dream of building a school.

To follow is a letter she wrote in hopes of gaining financial support of the project.

—

Hello,

Exhausted, I stood there. I stared at the acres of un-inhabited forests bordering the neighboring country of Nicaragua with wonder and astonishment. It is so beautiful, I can’t possibly understand how this area of the world has been forgotten.

The village has no electricity. They have no running water. They live a simple life: eating what they grow and making what they need.

As I question how I would get a single bag of cement up this monster, I tell them, “I’ll do it.” I can’t believe the words out of my mouth. Without hesitation, I clarify, “I’ll build the school.”

I’ve always been a dreamer, but this dream is shared with the entire community of Los Laureles. They heard I was considering building a school in the area, and they came to me.

Four and half hours they traveled, knowing there was a chance I wouldn’t be interested and they would not only lose a day’s work, but the cost of travel as well.

I never planned to agree to build a school in an area isolated from the chaos of the world. The closest Home Depot is 1,600 miles away. If I need a screwdriver I’ll have to travel nearly five hours to get one.

But there are kids there. A school’s worth of kids. Thirty-six to be exact. Their precious faces makeup the future of Los Laureles.

Their families hope for a better life for them, and they know a school is the first step. The entire community, children included, are willing to help build the school. They have offered to complete any unskilled labor required. They have donated the land. They want this so badly that when I told them perhaps we’ll start construction in the fall, they insisted on starting in spring. Fall is another rainy season- another school year away.

So here I am, asking for your help for the sake of those who can’t help themselves. Myself and the entire Bridge To Skate team have fundraised for a project like this, but the costs are higher than expected, and construction has already begun, months before we initially planned.

We’re trying to make the entire school as eco-friendly as possible. Where we can’t make it eco-friendly, we’re planning to use materials that we know will last. We only have a couple months to complete the project before the rain begins so we’re trying every angle we can—even those we’ve always avoided in the past.

Anything you’re able to give would be hugely appreciated-even ten or twenty dollars would help us tremendously. And of course, all donations are tax-deductible and will go directly to the cost of the material needed to build the school.

Online donations can be made with your credit/ debit card through the ‘Donate Now’ button on our website: www.bridgetoskate.org

Checks or money orders made payable to Bridge to Skate can be addressed to:

Bridge To Skate, ATTN: Chantelle Heroux, P.O. Box 2904, Olympic Valley, CA 96146

Thanks for your consideration and I can’t wait to show you what a small dream can become.