As the seasons changed in Kosovo in the Fall of 1999, refugees returning to villages bombed to rubble and set aflame may not have noticed the beauty of the fall colors. At least not on the trees. But they certainly appreciated the shades of purple, cranberry and orange that arrived in boxes.

On October 1, Aspen Skiing Company, in collaboration with Ben Mares of Refugee Direct Aid, a Denver-based not-for-profit relief organization, shipped 189 boxes of uniforms to Kosovo. The boxes contained roughly 5,000 cranberry ski school sweaters, pants and jackets, purple North Face fleece outfits, and insulated Gore-tex parkas, all clothing ASC turns over every six years or so in the course of normal operations.

The shipment was orchestrated by the Environmental Affairs Department, which wanted to keep the uniforms from being thrown out. Unfortunately, donating the uniforms domestically is problematic, since the uniforms occasionally return to aspen on the backs of non-employees. The best bet, it turned out, was to send the clothing overseas.

Cold People, Ruined Towns
Mares pointed out that the shipment of uniforms was one of the most valuable things coming into Kosovo. As a result, NATO peacekeeping troops (known as KFOR, for Kosovo-Force) escorted the shipment to distribution points. According to International Police Task Force member Thomas Jeannes, most of the uniforms were donated to 739 needy families around the village of Orahovac, where many of the houses received 75% damage or were completely destroyed. Without homes and with few possessions, many Kosovars are in dire need of winter clothes. "These people would have been extremely cold without the Aspen uniforms," said Refugee Direct Aid's Ben Mares. The region's climate is similar to Colorado's, but with more humidity, which makes it feel colder.

Jeannes said that residents lined the streets and applauded when he left town after distributing the uniforms. "They looked like a village of red Smurfs," he said of the villagers dressed in the cranberry outfits. In another town, Jeannes noticed that none of the children had shoes. He held a raffle for one uniform among NATO troops, and raised enough money to buy shoes for 200 children.

The uniforms will see many years of use. "It's possible that many people will wear these uniforms all winter, every day," said Mares.

Hungary Too! 
On October 22, ASC made a second shipment of some 3,000 pieces to Hungary, where floods have left many villagers destitute and homeless. Word spread quickly about the shipment, and other ski areas phoned to ask how they could do similar humanitarian projects with their uniforms. In fact, Keystone, a ski area in Summit County, piggybacked on the Hungary shipment, adding 75 of their own uniforms.

And most recently we have shipped uniforms to Afghanistan, and North Adams, MA. Below, UN Mission in Kosovo volunteer Tommy Jeannes (a State Patroller by trade) sorts uniforms prior to distribution.