Jersey City, New Jersey\u2019s ambitious Berry Lane Park project will feature a world-class skatepark at its center, thanks to years of hard work and persistence from local advocates. Their efforts have also earned the project the Tony Hawk Foundation\u2019s top grant, which has brought the group within sight of their fundraising goal.<\/p>\n
Working since 2002 to help communities across the U.S. create free public skateparks, the Tony Hawk Foundation has announced the latest recipients of its grants. Four communities seeking to build free, quality public skateparks that will serve at-risk youth have been awarded the highly competitive prize, and each project represents skaters who banded together to articulate their vision for a skatepark, built a coalition of supporters, and ultimately secured the support of their local leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s inspiring to see skaters work so hard for their communities, while\u00a0earning the respect and trust of their city councils,\u201d said Tony Hawk. \u201cThese skatepark projects are the result of grassroots public efforts and real collaboration between the skaters, the community, and local leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
While THF Skatepark Grants provide both tangible financial assistance and an exclusive status that often attracts other grants and donations, the core work of the foundation is to educate both skatepark advocates and local leaders on the process of developing a proper skatepark.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day we field requests from communities around the world seeking our help in developing new public skateparks,\u201d said THF Programs Director Peter Whitley. \u201cThe demand for safe, accessible skateboarding facilities is undeniable, and we are honored to be the go-to source for developmental guidance. Every skatepark starts with an advocate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Communities seeking to develop public skateparks should begin by studying the information at www.publicskateparkguide.org<\/span><\/a>, which covers very step of the skatepark process, from creating a vision to skatepark design and construction.<\/p>\n Winter 2015 Tony Hawk Foundation Skatepark Grant Recipients<\/b><\/p>\n Jersey City, New Jersey ($25,000)<\/p>\n McCook, Nebraska ($10,000)<\/p>\n Taylor, Texas ($10,000)<\/p>\n Janesville, Wisconsin ($5,000)<\/p>\n Information about the Tony Hawk Foundation, its Skatepark Grant Program (including application deadlines), and resources for starting a public skatepark in your town can be found at www.tonyhawkfoundation.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Tony Hawk Foundation<\/b><\/p>\n A charitable, non-profit organization, the Tony Hawk Foundation was established\u00a0in 2002 by its namesake, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. THF promotes and\u00a0provides technical assistance and funds\u00a0for high-quality public skateparks in\u00a0low-income areas throughout the United States that promote healthy, active\u00a0lifestyles, and to International programs that enrich the lives of youth\u00a0through\u00a0skateboarding.<\/i><\/p>\n Domestically,\u00a0the Foundation\u2019s Skatepark Grant program has awarded over $5.3-million to 560\u00a0communities in all 50 states. The Foundation focuses on working with local\u00a0officials and grassroots,\u00a0community-based organizations that plan to hire\u00a0designers and contractors with strong experience designing and building\u00a0skateparks.<\/i><\/p>\n The\u00a0Foundation\u2019s International Program has provided technical support and awarded\u00a0$100,000 to assist youth through the <\/i>Skateistan<\/b> educational programs in\u00a0Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa\u00a0(<\/i>www.skateistan.org<\/i><\/span><\/a>).<\/i><\/p>\n The\u00a0Tony Hawk Foundation was established by a gift from Tony Hawk. Its directors\u00a0raise additional funds through events, industry donations, and continuing\u00a0contributions from Tony and other entities. For\u00a0more information or to make a\u00a0donation, visit the Foundation\u2019s Web site at\u00a0<\/i>www.tonyhawkfoundation.org<\/i><\/span><\/a>. You\u00a0can also visit THF on <\/i>facebook<\/i><\/span><\/a> and <\/i>Instagram @tonyhawkfoundation<\/i><\/span><\/a>, and on <\/i>Twitter\u00a0@THF<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jersey City, New Jersey\u2019s ambitious Berry Lane Park project will feature a world-class skatepark at its center, thanks to years of hard work and persistence from local advocates. Their efforts have also earned the project the Tony Hawk Foundation\u2019s top grant, which has brought the group within sight of their fundraising goal. Working since 2002 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4041],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skate-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/jerseycityTHF.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51772,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51469\/revisions\/51772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}