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Skate shop works to give local kids care pack

Ten B.C. board shops who host OneAreaCode programs will receive a care pack for a young skateboarder

This summer Boardwalk in Campbell River has collaborated with Vancouver Island skateboard group OneAreaCode to send local kids back-to-school with care packs valued at over $1,600.

Each care pack consist of enough shoes, clothing and school supplies to see our kids confident, warm and prepared for the winter.

Since 2012, Boardwalk has been hosting programs by OneAreaCode whose mission is to support the education, physical and mental wellbeing of the school-aged skateboard community. OneAreaCode has a volunteer network of over 120 skateboarders. It has collaborated with 70 Californian and Canadian skateboard companies to deliver subsidized shoes and equipment for school-aged skateboarders, who are a positive influence on their peers.

With an emphasis on “paying it forward,” OneAreaCode has focused on skateboarders who recognizes their own good fortune and shares it with those in need.

“OneAreacode is giving skateboarding in the community the ability to flourish in a positive manner with a focus not just on progression of skills on the board, but also the on important progress of leading your life in positive manner. Combining the youths passion of sport with positive life skills is and will be beneficial to our community as a whole,” said Corby McCartney of Boardwalk.

Ten B.C. board shops who host OneAreaCode programs will receive a care pack for a young skateboarder from their community.

B.C. has a child poverty rate of 18.9 per cent, making it the highest in Canada. There are also 49 per cent of single mothers living below Canada’s low-income cut off, with 67 per cent of young skateboarders coming from single mother families.

“The back to school care packs are something the OneAreaCode community as whole can be very proud of. This is what it is really all about, reaching out and helping in anyway possible. As OneAreaCode grows, we will have further reach and ability to support and inspire the youth of skateboarding today,” McCartney said.

McCartney urges skateboarders and parents of skateboarders, past and present, to get behind OneAreaCode and support their programs. With skateboarding being a non-organized sport, parents can’t look to existing sports programs that make equipment and participation accessible for marginalized young people.

“At the end of the day it is just skateboarding, with OneAreaCode we have the choice to make it a little better for everyone. I am very proud to be in full support of OneAreaCode,” McCartney said.

The OneAreaCode “Back-to-school” care packs were made possible with the donations from Supra Shoes, Krew Clothing, Herschel, Kayo, LRG, Altamont, Chance, JSLV, Neff SAXX, Westview Ford, Rice Toyota, 133, Boardwalk and Monk office. To apply for a “Back-to-school” pack, or to donate, visit the www.oneareacode.com.