KZSC 88.1

KZSC 88.1 was nice enough to have myself and Shawn Hatjes on air to discuss childhood hunger and malnutrition in Santa Cruz County.  Hosts of Conciliation Sunday Kevin Spitzer and Melissa Stone had a flurry of interesting questions and discussions ranged from why to how. Danny and Shawn go over every aspect of how Grind Out Hunger works and why the schools are so involved.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

With 1 in 4 children going food insecure in Santa Cruz County and over 55,000 people a month needing emergency food support, Grind Out Hunger in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County is doing everything it can to “educate and involve the community to end hunger and malnutrition”. Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County distributes over 700,000 pounds of food per month with over half being fresh fruit and produce through 200 member agencies and food for children distributions.

Grind Out Hunger was created through the vision of skateboarders helping kids overcome hunger. Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop founded Grind Out Hunger with the goal of inspiring kids to help kids; Danny Keith mentions “by going directly to the schools and talking with the kids, it has a huge impact.” Grind Out Hunger is an educational piece challenging local elementary, middle and high schools to raise food and money for hungry children in the community. Since the inception of Grind Out Hunger the youth of Santa Cruz County has collected over 1 million pounds of food for working poor families and children.

“The secret message communicated to most young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that the society will run itself quite nicely until they – at some distant point in the future – will take over the reigns. Yet the fact is that the society is not running itself nicely… because the rest of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile.”quote by Alvin Toffler

About 6 months back Lindsey Graham-Jones interviewed me for KQED and NPR around their “California, the Giving State” where they highlight people doing non-profit work. I am really stoked on the momentum Grind Out Hunger has and I know we are inches away from becoming a nationwide charity.

Danny Keith on Grind Out Hunger over KQED and NPR

Brandon Morris is down for Watsonville

While new generations of skateboarders are raised on concrete skateparks, the roots of Watsonville skating started on the streets.

Watsonville has a skate park, Ramsay Skate Park, which is small and nondescript and in the center of town. But it wasn’t always this way.

Brandon Morris said that when he started out, as a 10-year-old skater, “A crew of us would find a spot and clean it up so we could skate it.” Most of the time kids had to travel to skate, he said, adding that it wasn’t ideal. “[There were] way too many kids packing in a car and traveling around getting footage,” said Morris, now in his early 20s. “Kids need a spot to skate and cannot always travel to the other skate parks in the area.”

Nathan “Knox” Forson also has skated locally for more than 12 years, and he said skaters know how to get creative to find places to skate. “Watsonville skateboarding is all about street and terrain,” he says. “We used to skate this storage locker as a drop, right behind the Target, and we could see them building Ramsay Skate Park.”

Nathan "Knox" Forson at Ramsay Park

He relives that memory for a moment.

“I have always been proud to say that I was able to skate Ramsay Park as it was being built,” he says.

Forson and Morris both pay homage to a group of skaters who would canvass the streets and eventually end up at the school yard.

“We don’t have perfect spots—either it’s rough ground [or] you get kicked out, or maybe it has no landing … rarely is there a perfect spot you come across in Watsonville,” Forson says. “I was fortunate enough to see the older crew, John Hernandez, Andrew Tibbits, Ryuta, Daniel Rivera, Richie Valdez and, especially, Julio Prieta—he was the one who showed me about skateboarding in Watsonville.”

Forson remembers that Tibbits offered his home for training, with “a rail, a fun box, quarter pipes, ledges … It was like going to the Garden of Eden.”

When asked about the Ramsay Skate Park, the guys show their love for the city facility.

“The park does not have to be good; skaters almost have a guerilla mindset, and streets are meant for skateboarding,” Forson said. “We use our imaginations to skate it, and you will have an amazing time, even if it’s a not a top-notch park.”

The park, a collection of rails and ramps scattered on asphalt at the city’s main recreation area, was built before the more dynamic skate parks in Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley.

“Every day since I was 12 years old, I started my day at Ramsay Skate Park—I have love for it.” Forson said, his gaze narrowing. “There are plenty of small parks in California, but that’s my small skate park.”

Watsonville’s claim to fame in skateboarding is the landmark known as the Buena Vista Pool. The spot is privately owned but open to skaters and written about frequently .

In the past, skaters would sneak in and have to dig it out or look at it filled up with dirt. But two years ago, Buena Vista was dug out and brought it back to life.

Brandon Morris at Buena Vista

“I skate it as much as I can,” Morris said. “It’s close to my house, and I skate for about an hour while I let my dog, Rufus, run around. I imagine as long as people respect the place and clean up after themselves, they will keep it open.”

For the most part, Forson says, “Watsonville skaters make do with what we have and get creative.”

Go see article on Watsonville.Patch.com

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