SKATE NEWS

Tony Hawk Foundation Celebrates 5th Annual Benefit

Activision Presents Stand Up For Skateparks to support youth in low-income communities.

The Tony Hawk Foundation will host its fifth-annual benefit event, Activision Presents Stand Up For Skateparks, in Beverly Hills on Sunday, November 9, 2008. This family-centric action-sports carnival will feature a vert demo on Tony Hawk’s personal ramp with an all-star cast of BMX and skate pros, including Hawk, Shaun White, Bucky Lasek, and Andy Macdonald, plus BMX icons Mat Hoffman and Kevin Robinson. As many of them are veterans of Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom HuckJam tour, the riders are excited to be re-united to perform for the exclusive event’s 900 attendees.

Co-chaired by Tony Hawk, Lance Armstrong, Rob Dyrdek, Christopher “Big Black” Boykin, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jamie Lee Curtis, Mia Hamm, Dana White, Jr., Jon Favreau, Mat Hoffman, Shaun White, Robert Kotick, Bob McKnight, Scott Greenstein, and Ron Burkle, the Activision Presents Stand Up For Skateparks benefit will take place at Burkle’s expansive Green Acres estate. In addition to the vert demo, the event will include interactive activities, crafts, food, live and silent auctions, giveaways, plus a skate clinic and a special musical performance by Social Distortion.

Proceeds from Activision Presents Stand Up For Skateparks will help the Tony Hawk Foundation fulfill its mission of assisting low-income communities in the development of free, quality public skateparks. A focal point of the day’s fundraising will be the special Pledge Drive for a skatepark in the military community of Tierrasanta in San Diego, California. Many Tierrasanta youth have parents deployed overseas, and the skatepark will be a tremendous recreational opportunity and meeting place where over 2,300 military families and local civilians will come together to enjoy the benefits that a free, public skatepark offers. The son of a Navy pilot, Tony Hawk grew up in Tierrasanta, and this special Pledge Drive at Stand Up For Skateparks will kickstart the fundraising campaign for his hometown skatepark.

For more information on Stand Up For Skateparks, including tickets and sponsorship opportunities, log on to standupforskateparks.org.

A charitable, non-profit organization, the Tony Hawk Foundation was established in 2002 by its namesake, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, to promote and provide funds for high-quality public skateparks throughout the United States—with an emphasis on the word “quality.” Since then, the Foundation has awarded $2,400,000 to 391 communities. The Foundation focuses on working with local officials and grassroots, community-based organizations that plan to hire designers and contractors with strong experience designing and building skateparks.

The Tony Hawk Foundation was established by a gift from Tony Hawk. Its directors raise additional funds through events, industry donations, and continuing contributions from Tony and other entities. In addition to skateparks, the Foundation also makes donations to other children-related charities, as chosen by its Board Of Directors. For more information or to make a donation, visit the Foundation’s Web site at tonyhawkfoundation.org