Boards for Bros | Vans Give Back | September 15, 2018
Goal was to Assemble 150 Completes for Children that Would Not Have had the Opportunity Otherwise
The good folks at Vans footwear reached out to us in Spring 2018 wanting to bring a skateboard giveback event to Southside Skatepark. Their plan was to motivate three regional skate shops to round up donated gently used decks. The goal was to assemble 150 completes for children that would not otherwise have to opportunity to participate. No Comply in Austin, Texas, Select Skateshop in Houston, Texas and ourselves Southside Skatepark were asked to compel our locals to donate. With the Vans collection barrels for everyone’s store and a free Bronson tool as a thank you for your donation, we were able to meet our goal of 150 decks. It was actually easier to round up the decks than we originally thought it would be.
It Was an Amazing Feeling to See Them Riding Their New Boards for the First Time
Boards for Bros Michelle Box and Edwin Velez based out of Skatepark of Tampa had flown in to help make it all happen. Vans brought in a crew of five volunteers to give all attendees some one on one time. This helped them choose a complete that would work for them the best. Vans give back event with Boards for Bros and Southside Skatepark took place at 10am September 15th 2018 and ran until 2pm. During that time we did connect 70 complete skateboards with kids wanting to participate. Naturally, it was an amazing feeling to see them riding their new boards for the first time.
Boards for Bros with support from Vans was such a great event and Southside was happy to host. These give back events are growing in popularity across the country and around the world. With so many of these Boards for Bros events and similar giveback programs, the future of skateboarding looks bright. Southside Skatepark would like to thank Vans and their volunteers, Boards for Bros, Select Skateshop and No Comply Skateshop for helping make this event possible.