By Marty Basch

He's a dad who gives back.

Steve Campbell's 15-year-old son's life was taken by a drunk driver in 2008.

His name was Cooper, a Cheverus High School student in Portland.

Cooper's memory is alive during Cooper Campbell Day.

Cooper, a fun-loving winter kid who skied and snowboarded in Maine and at resorts around the country, was killed by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the Maine Turnpike. He and his father Steve were returning from a Florida vacation and were being transported in a Lincoln Town Car. The limo driver James McLaughlin, 65 , of Gorham  was killed too.  Steve, now 50,  was seriously hurt. In 2009,  Steve donated $10,000 to Winter Kids in Cooper's memory as a way to spread his son's love of the outdoors in winter.

"I really wanted to find a way to speak to Coop's legacy, "said Steve. "I was trying to find something that matched who he was. When I got to know more about Winter Kids it just parallels who Cooper was."

Winter Kids helps foster a healthy outdoor lifestyle and offers a variety of programs including the WinterKids Passport (an opportunity for winter recreation for Maine's fifth through seventh graders), a WinterKids Fun Pass (pre-schoolers to fourth graders can try cross-country skiing and snowshoeing free) and World Class Athlete Tour that has included Maine Olympians Julie Parisien and Seth Wescott.

On Sunday Dec. 19, about 100 kids learned to ski at Shawnee Peak.

"One of the best parts of my day was watching the kids putting on their boots for the first time," said Fran Mullin, Winter Kids executive director. "You could see they were nervous, but so excited to try a fun new sport. I saw one little girl just beaming and bouncing up and down with excitement when she got her skis."

Steve, of Portland,  described Cooper as a very spirited and confident teenager, a cool kid, who loved being outside. He called the day "bittersweet."

Ironically, Steve and his son bonded "at the hip" when the two lost Janet — Steve's wife, Cooper's mother— to breast cancer five years ago and took on a live life to the fullest mentality.

"Live a life with no regrets, travel a lot," said Steve, who works for Delhaize Group, Hannaford's parent company. "We wanted to experience different things and skiing was one of those things."

Said Steve, "In the short life that he had, he really lived a lot."