Christine Cheesman is a homeschool mom, an art teacher and a new figure skater. Despite all those roles, she has decided to take on another: Skates of Hope founder. 

Cheesman, who lives in North Carolina, was at an ice skating rink when she learned what happened to American Airlines Flight 5342 when it collided with a U.S. Army helicopter in the evening hours of Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C., killing all 67 onboard when the two aircraft plunged into the Potomac River. 

Twenty-eight of the victims from flight 5342 were “members of the figure skating community,” the Olympics website states. Eleven were young athletes, four were coaches and 13 were family members. 

“As a mom, it took my breath away,” she said about learning of the plane crash. “Even now, thinking about it, it’s really difficult to try to understand what the parents are feeling and the families that have lost everything.”

Photos of victims following the collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter.

Cheesman’s goal is to make Skates of Hope a nonprofit organization, and any monetary donations that come in would be able to go to the families who lost loved ones in the D.C. plane crash. 

Anyone who wishes to donate skates or be the recipient of a pair should reach out to her via Instagram.

The D.C. plane crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.