$18,000 beer money for disabled skiers

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 509, 26 October 1993, Page 12

$18,000 beer money for disabled skiers

New Zealand' s most successful disabled skier, Patrick Cooper, was presented with a cheque for $18,248 last week, (19 October) to help the Disabled Ski Team win gold at the 1994 Paralympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The cheque represented the proceeds from the Steinlager 'Blue for Gold' initiati ve which ran for three months during the ski season. Under Steinlager 'Blue for Gold', 10 cents per litre of Steinlager Blue sold in selected outlets throughout New Zealand went to the New Zealand Disabled Ski Team. New Zealand Breweries' saies manager Mark O'Donnell, presented the cheque at a ski-industry function held at Ohakune' s Powder Keg. Mr O'Donnell said 'Blue for Gold' recognised the outstanding ability of the New Zealand Disabled Ski Team - winners of 45 medals on the US National Disa-

bled Ski Circuit last year. The initiative was as successful in raising the profile of the team as it was in raising money, he said. "Earlier this year we picked the New Zealand Disabled Ski Team as a team of winners. They've

proven this beyond all doubt this season, culminating in their winning the New Zealand 'Skier of the Year' award early this month." "This is the first time in the 15-year history of the award that it has gone to a

team and seldom has it been more richly deserved," Mr O'Donnell said. The New Zealand Disabled Ski Team leaves the country in November to train in the US prior to the Lillehammer Para-lympics in March.