The Saturday after New Yearβs Day was another busy day for Fantasy on Ice outside of NBC 7βs studio.
Hundreds of youth, still on their holiday break, lined up again for skates. But for other kids, being on the ice was a fantasy turned into a reality.
Project Rescue Party, an organization that reaches out to at-risk and homeless youth, paid the way for dozens of homeless kids and their families to skate up and hit the ice. An experience that would be the first for many.
βWe want homeless kids to not lose out on their opportunity of a childhood,β said Brett Matson, founder of Project Rescue Party. βWe believe that opportunities like this give them their childhood back.β
βIt's an experience, a new experience, because they've never been. They donβt do things like this,β one homeless mother said of her kidsβ first time on the ice.
For people like her and her kids, the slick rink takes some getting used to. βIt was really fun, you just have to make sure you have the right shoe size and itβs tight,β said Mickayla, one of several kids who found out what it feels like to fall over several times.