Tony Hawk’s Stand Up For Skateparks‘ fundraising party held in billionaire Ron Burkle’s Beverly Hills backyard yesterday November 9, 2008 raised over $1 million “to bring free, quality skateboard parks to low-income communities across the United States.”
. . . attendees included Tony Hawk, Shaun White, Anthony Kiedis, David Spade, Perry Ferrell, Chris “Big Black” Boykin, Kathy Ireland, Bam Margera and BMX legend Mat Hoffman, as well as event benefit committee members Jamie Lee Curtis and Mia Hamm. . . . plus performances by Social Distortion, and a Vert Demo on Hawk’s personal ramp, where he was joined by White, Bucky Lasek, Andy Macdonald, Kevin Staab, and BMX riders John Parker and Dennis McCoy.
We tried to get a press pass, but apparently our readership is not A-List enough. Follow the jump for the entire press release.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov 10, 2008 — The action-sports and entertainment elite were on-hand Sunday for the fifth-annual Activision Presents Stand Up For Skateparks, where over $1-million was raised for the Tony Hawk Foundation and its mission to bring free, quality skateparks to low-income communities across the United States.
Held at an exclusive estate in Beverly Hills, attendees included Tony Hawk, Shaun White, Anthony Kiedis, David Spade, Perry Ferrell, Chris “Big Black” Boykin, Kathy Ireland, Bam Margera and BMX legend Mat Hoffman, as well as event benefit committee members Jamie Lee Curtis and Mia Hamm. The one-day action-sports carnival included games, activities, a special acoustic performance by Social Distortion, and a Vert Demo on Hawk’s personal ramp, where he was joined by White, Bucky Lasek, Andy Macdonald, Kevin Staab, and BMX riders John Parker and Dennis McCoy.
Fundraising efforts at the event kicked off with a special Pledge Drive for a skatepark in Hawk’s childhood neighborhood of Tierrasanta in San Diego, California. The area is home to over 3,000 military families, many of whom have loved ones deployed overseas. Local youth, who had been pursuing a skatepark for two years before approaching the Foundation for assistance, joined the skateboarding icon on stage. Similar to past Stand Up For Skateparks events, where funds were raised for specific projects in Compton, California and New York City, the Pledge Drive raised over $78,000 to kick off the Tony Hawk Foundation’s effort to break the million-dollar goal.
About the Tony Hawk Foundation
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. For more information on the Tony Hawk Foundation, and its mission and programs, log on to www.tonyhawkfoundation.org
