Vermont Business Owner and former US Luge Team member raising donations to help the family of Olympic Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died at Vancouver Olympics.

Burlington, Vermont— Cynthea Wight Hausman, former US Luge Team member and current owner of Burlington-based Cynthea’s Spa is competing again, but this time her goal is to raise money for an athlete we all knew of, for his tragic death rather than his running time. Nodar Kumaritashvili died on a warm up run in Vancouver. So March 28, Hausman will be raising money to help out his family.  By racing the luge again, Cynthea hopes to raise $10,000 which will go directly to the Kumaritashvili family who struggle in the wake of their son's death. Following the tragic loss of 21 year old of Georgian luge Olympic athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili, Hausman decided she wanted to do something meaningful. When she learned that his family might not able to afford to rebuild their home lost in a fire, she knew what to do. "This family lost their son. We can't let them lose their home too."

According to the President of the Luge Federation of Georgia, Nodor Kumaritashvilli's family is in urgent need of financial support. Some years ago, their house was completely destroyed by fire. Heavily relying on Nodar's financial support, the family had begun to rebuild their home. Without Nodar, that now looks like a daunting task. "After his death, the family will need to rebuild both their home and their life. We can help them."

Hausman, a retired Luge and Bobsled Athlete, knows well the dangers
of competing on high speed and fast tracks. "I can put my life on pause to help this family. I think we can all help them out. So I'm headed to Lake Placid to train and compete in the US Master’s National Championships Race March 28th, 2010." She plans to quickly raise funds in support of her efforts to help Nodar's family rebuild at least a small part of their lives. 

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Cynthea Wight Hausman is a past member of the United States National Women’s Luge Team (1984 – 1992). She retired from racing to work as sports massage therapist, esthetician and to start a family. In reaction to the pain which tore a hole in the closely nit luge and sledding communities she says, “That could have been any one of us, of our own US Olympic athletes. So now we can each support Nodar's family so devastated by his shocking and sudden death.  Hausman urges interested supporters to look up the fan page on Facebook called “I Slide 4 Nodar”. She encourages people to share and discuss news on the wall. She has also set up an Inlu.com collection that will pool funds to be
delivered to Nodar Kumaritashvili’s family in the Republic of Georgia.

To fan “I slide 4 Nodar”, visit
http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Slide-4-Nodar/343953034582 or to
contribute to the “I Slide 4 Nodar Fund”, visit
http://www.inlu.com/registry?key=1AVQKDS3QG666. She will also be
sharing her journey on her newly dedicated blog,
http://ISlide4Nodar.blogspot.com/ direct email is
ISlide4Nodar@gmail.com