Longboarding for Peace is a global movement of peace, balance and justice powered by longboarders. We empower people to step on, step up and make great things happen in their communities.
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Curve Lake
LFP traveled to Curve Lake, Ontario in July to participate in a workshop called SK8LIT. We presented our balance program to First Nation students. They learned about literacy, photography, art, and how to skateboard. Deborah Berrill helped create the program and she understood LFP’s desire to teach balance coincided with The First Nation Medicine Wheel. The wheel is divided into four equal parts. If a person is grounded in all four quadrants; intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical, then balance and harmony are achieved. Thanks, once again, to a generous donation from Landyachtz, Curve Lake is now enjoying a quiver of eight completes. The students also had a special guest artist attend – Kieran McGregor, formerly of the Oasis Skateboard Factory. Kieran customized each deck with stencil art.
New Partnership and Collabs
LFP is proud to announce that we have formed a partnership with Swappow. Swappow is a new mobile and online marketplace where action sports participants and the industry can swap, sell and share any pre-owned equipment in exchange for cash, credits, or just to help others get riding/rolling more economically. Swappow.com
We also teamed up with the folks from Sports Tag ID. This precision made ID can make a huge difference in an emergency situation. The ID contains engraved vital information such as your name, blood type and key emergency contacts. Sportstagid.com
Blood from Boarders
October was our month to kick off our annual blood drive. Texas based artist Jay Cronin created this exceptionally cool poster to promote the October blood drive campaign. If you missed giving blood last month, you can always roll up your sleeve and (blood) bank your karma right now.
Our friends at Restless Boards organized a blood drive in Montreal, Quebec. Canada is currently undergoing a blood shortage so we were proud to help spreadthe message.
Latitude Longboards created a custom deck for Blood from Boarders. The company will be on Indiegogo to fund a limited production run of this model through November. latitudelongboards.com
In honor of all those boarders who gave blood, artist Rachel Tribble created this painting.
Gun Buyback San Diego
In San Diego, over 115 guns have been stolen in home burglaries in the first six months of this year. The goal of a gun buy back effort is to get some of those unwanted and unsecured guns out of homes before they fall into the hands of criminals. The first gun buy back took place last year in San Pedro California and was the brainchild of Neil Carver.
Our second gun buy back built upon the initial success we had in San Pedro. The local media were all over the story and traffic was blocked up for over a mile. People brought in a wide variety of pistols, sawed-off shot guns and even Uzis. One person even brought in hollow-point bullets.
Skate legend, Dennis Martinez, worked in conjunction with the United African American Ministerial Action Council. His Off the Streets program has worked with UAAMAC on a number of previous occasions. Special thanks to Harvey Hawks who spent countless hours gathering and building the skateboards.
A huge debt of gratitude to the following companies who generously donated product: ABEC 11, Adrenalina, Buddy Carr Designs, Buck Trucks, Badlands Skateboards, Carver, Churchill MFG, Deville, Globe, Ladera, Landyachtz, Loaded, Madrid, Navigator, Ollie Angel, Orangatang, Paris, Rainskates, Riviera, Stella, Silver Trucks, West Coast Ride Shop
Mexico
In late August we received a report from César Bojórquez on behalf of LFP Tijuana. The donation of twelve helmets from Predator has gone a long way to ensuring these kids ride safe. Note Cesar’s last sentence.
“Last Sunday was a happy one at “El Tunel” which is the spot where we usually skate down in Playas de Tijuana. Not only was it a beautiful sunny day but we also gathered to give out the helmets we got from Predator. The kids from Niños de la Promesa were so stoked to get them I could hardly get them to gather for a picture. Connie sends her thanks to you and everyone involved in this act of kindness. My friends and I from Longboarding Tijuana are also grateful for the help and will continue to work on making a difference in these kid’s lives. BTW I’m donating blood for the first time in my life this October.”