Words by Jeff Schmuck

Photos courtesy of JP Auclair

As you read this, JP Auclair, Mikey Hovey, Seth Koch, Chad Fleischer and the rest of the Alpine Initiatives team are on a plane bound for Africa to help build a community home in a rural area of Kenya (for more details, check out http://www.alpineinitiatives.org and/or the interview we did with JP a few weeks ago: http://www.newschoolers.com/web/content/news/news_id/2222/).

The team will be over there for a month building the home, which will be both an orphanage and a place for sustainable businesses to develop. The four of them began Alpine Initiatives "to get everybody from the snowsports community working together on different projects to help make a difference in the world," says JP Auclair.

JP has been extremely busy over the past few weeks planning the trip, getting his shots and packing all while doing his best to raise donations to help them with the costs of materials that are needed to build the home.

"A lot of people have been asking how I feel about the trip and if I'm scared or excited, but I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to think about what it's going be like when we get over there," he says. "I'm definitely excited but we've been super busy trying to get everything organized and running around trying to finalize little details, and I've been continuing to try to raise as much money as possible as we're leaving because it's going to be a lot harder from Kenya."

We at NS were truly inspired by this project and wanted to do everything we could to help out, so we've teamed up with JP to help him raise both awarness and donations for this truly amazing and important project.

So with that in mind, beginning today until November 1st (which marks the end of their trip), we're taking any and all donations made to the NS store for the various levels of contributor status and will be donating it weekly to Alpine Initiatives (or if you'd prefer to donate on your own, you can do so at http://www.alpineinitiatves.org by clicking the big donate bubble).

So for the month of October, donating to NS will mean that much more as you'll be doing your part to help make a difference for people who are less fortunate. And if that's not enough, check this out...we'll be monitoring all the donations and whoever makes the biggest one during the next month will receive (courtesy of the man himself) a pair of 08/09 Armada AR6's (181cm), an Orage JP Auclair pro model jacket and pants, a pair of Oakley JP Auclair Signature Series Goggles, a pair of Level Gloves, and last but not least, a Kendama that JP calls, "the dopest Kendama that you can find...it's like the Cadillac of Kendamas."

"I think this will be a really cool opportunity to get everyone on Newschoolers a little bit more excited and a little bit more involved in the project," he says. "I was originally just going to donate a pair of skis but then as I was going through my garage and my closet I realized I had some brand new gear leftover from last year that I would normally give to my family but figured it would be better to donate to this contest instead."

So without further ado, check out http://www.alpineinitiatves.org for more information on the project, and then head on over to the NS store (http://store.newschoolers.com/osc/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=84) to do your part.

Thanks,

JP Auclair

The NS staff