Asbury Park Skateboard Foundation Fundraiser Family-friendly benefit noon at Wonder Bar

By Michelle Gladden

The Asbury Park Skateboard Foundation will hold its first stand-alone fundraising event Sunday at the Wonder Bar.

Founded last spring, the nonprofit aims to secure land to construct a public skateboard park for all ages and skill levels. The initiative involves community engagement to create an innovative design that encourages a multi-purpose use, according to its website.

“We value the highest level of artistry in skate park design to make Asbury Park one of the leading cities for featuring alternative centers for community, conversation, design, discovery, and creative expression,” its mission statement reads.

The noon fundraising event features a webcast of the 22nd Annual Tampa Pro, the benchmark event for skateboarding world. The family-friendly event includes door prizes sponsored by skate gear makers like Vans and Brixton.

The Asbury Park Skateboard Foundation is currently seeking a 501c3 status that will enable them to apply for grants and larger donations, organizers said. In September, they launched a Change.Org petition as an open letter to Mayor John Moor:

We the undersigned, as citizens of Asbury Park, support the development of a free public skate park within our city. We recognize the need for and the benefits of a free public skate park and believe the city should at the very least provide suitable land and agree to maintain the skate park after construction, just as it would a basketball court, tennis court, or other public general use area. We recognize that the construction of the skate park will be completely funded by the Asbury Park Skateboard Foundation.

To date, they have obtained over 200 of the 500 signatures they seek. Comments include:

“Asbury Park has always been a mecca for skateboarding; from the empty hotel pools and Sk8bo of the 1970’s to the Casino Skate Park and the Vans Triple Crown of Skateboarding in the 1990’s and 2000’s,” wrote Mark Sullivan of Brick. “I feel it’s time for Asbury Park to have a permanent concrete skateboard park to call its own.”

“Once upon a time Casino Skate Park [1997-2001] took a bunch of at risk Asbury youth and took them off the streets,” wrote city resident Donny Binaco. “Make it happen.”

For more information, visit their website.

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Mar 01, 2016