Free ski helmets at Marquette Mountain

Young skiers and snowboarders in the Marquette area will be safer this winter after receiving free helmets.

Marquette Mountain, Kohl’s and the Marquette General Women’s and Children’s Center gave out the helmets on Saturday.

After some safety training from the National Ski Patrol, kids age 13 and younger got to choose from 175 free helmets.

“Now it’s required that children wear their helmets while skiing at the ski hill, so we feel it’s really important that all kids can have a helmet, and we want to provide them with that,” Marissa Palomaki of the MGH Women’s and Children’s Center said.

The Kohl’s Cares program also donated more than $18,000 to the MGH Women’s and Children’s Center.

The money pays for the ‘Heads UP On Safety’ ski helmet event.

“It also will include our bike rodeo, our bike event giving away bike helmets in the summer, June 2014,” Palomaki said.

If the kids didn’t like the available colors, or if the helmets didn’t fit them, they received a gift certificate for a free helmet that their parents can pick up at a later time.