So I had the opportunity to do what the kids in the Hershey program do, except that the Hershey program lets them do it on such a larger scale, with the regional and national competitions.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When I was a kid, I reckoned things in Hershey bars. Is this worth three Hershey bars to me?
I donate money to the existing foundation that funds the US Ski Team kids.
I'm a chairperson for 'No Kid Hungry', a campaign for poor American children.
I make appearance at local park and recreation agencies when the program starts, when they have the qualifying meets at the local levels. Then I try to go to the regional competitions, and of course I'm there in Hershey, Pa., in August for the North American final.
That's what I'd like to do on the President's Council. Make sports and athletics available to every youth in America, not just one day a week like it was for me, but every day.
My wife and I started a program called Bears Without Borders. We raise money and hire local artisans to make stuffed animals and distribute them in their communities.
If events had taken a different course, I could have been one of those children going to a school without the sorts of opportunities that I've subsequently had.
The thing with children is they're a bit like baking a fruitcake: you throw all the ingredients in but you never know how they're going to turn out.
I don't think children have competed with my career, they have clarified it. My children ground me. They make me honest.
My kids can't eat awards.