The Chill Foundation of Salt Lake City, UT recently received a generous gift from Florence & Michael New and the Kamenev Family in memory of Matt Kamenev who lost his life last season at Brighton Resort in a tragic skiing accident at the age of 24. Matt worked at Brighton Resort for three seasons.
“His entire family back east and all his friends both east and west, miss his generous, wise, and optimistic spirit,” said Kamenev’s mother Florence “We are all trying to live “the Matt Way”, loving, kind, giving and adventurous.”
To honor that way of living, Florence & Michael New and the Kamenev Family are making a generous donation to the Chill Foundation. This donation will be used directly for the Chill Foundation’s program at Brighton Resort, in Utah; effectively helping hundreds of Salt Lake City area youth get a chance to share a bit of what Matt loved so much.
“We are grateful to Florence and Michael New and the Kamenev Family for the donation and hope to pass a bit of what made Matt such a great person on to the youth of Salt Lake. A great passion for living life, a love of the outdoors, a sense of adventure, this is how Matt lived and this is what we try to instill in the youth we work with,” said Zac Barnes, Chill Salt Lake City Manager. ” It is easy to forgot how blessed we are living here in Utah. The excitement of the first time we take our youth up Big Cottonwood Canyon is unrivaled. Thanks to Florence and the entire Kamenev Family we will be able to continue sharing this gift that Matt loved so much to make a positive impact on the underserved youth of the Salt Lake Valley.”
ABOUT MATT KAMENEV
Matt Kamenev was a pilot, an avid skier, and a warm, funny, intelligent, and generous friend to all. His enthusiasm and brilliant smile were part of the Brighton landscape for the last three years.
He was in the midst of achieving his goal of becoming a commercial pilot when he lost his young life in a tragic accident.
Matt grew up in New Jersey and attended Tufts University in Boston, the School of Engineering.
A Boy Scout at heart, he moved out west to SLC to enjoy the challenging sports, fabulous skiing and the beauty of the life in the west. He found his passion in flying and quickly achieved his private pilot’s license on Sept 19, 2014. He was much beloved by all the staff at Brighton that worked with him, for his wit, warmth, dependability, and upbeat, fearless nature.
