Yakima Kid Raises Nearly $4,000 to Attend a National Snowboard Competition

I don't know about you but if my child came running up to me and said, "I need $3,000 to attend the (fill-in-the-blank) competition", I would probably faint. That's an awful lot of money for a very important cause no doubt, but still, that's a huge chunk of change! Young Jenson Van Der Kolk's mom and stepdad pitched in to help their son make his way to the Snowboard and Freeski competition (he's 12-years-old), but they could only pitch in so much, as you can imagine!

Enter GoFundMe stage right!

KAPP-TV reports that Jenson is participating in the Slopeski portion of the national competition on April 6th in Colorado. A GoFundMe was established to allow anyone in the community to donate a little something to help Jenson cover lodging, food, transportation, and other incurred expenses when he's participating in those races. Fortunately, he has family that lives not too far from the competition site so that he can stay there until it's time to gear up for the slopes.

I had to use a GoFundMe one time. Let me tell you about it!

Picture it, Sicily, 1922.

via GIPHY

I'm just kidding. I love whipping out that Sophia from Golden Girls gif!

Anyway, about eight or so years ago, my younger brother had informed my mother and I that he was having an impromptu wedding with his girlfriend in Muskogee, Oklahoma. There was no way in Hades that I could have afforded a last-minute flight out of SeaTac airport for both me and my at the time 3-year-old daughter, Willow. If it weren't for numerous friends of mine in the community, I would have never been able to make the trip. Side Note: My brother and his girlfriend snuck off to the County Courthouse whilst everyone was hanging out in their house waiting for them to show up. My mother was livid that she didn't get to see them get married and although I was very sad I didn't get to see my brother get hitched, I was elated that I got to be with my family and new in-law family regardless. Thank you, GoFundMe!

I hope that young Jenson Van Der Kolk comes back to Yakima with a huge trophy (or ribbon or whatever they give out at the USASA National Championships!!

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