Things for Grind Out Hunger just keep getting better. The Santa Cruz Derby Girls are a non-profit 501.3c and have been heavily involved in the community and giving back since their inception. Cool enough, that SCDG started a junior league in Santa Cruz County and have a packed roster of over 25 girls vying to be the next Santa Cruz Derby Girl. I was blown away when I get the phone call from Kiki Clash (one of many SCDG angels) that the Santa Cruz Junior Derby Girls had nominated Grind Out Hunger as their 2009 charity. They invited me down to speak to the girls at the Santa Cruz Roller Palladium during practice one day and I obviously obliged. As I sat and watched these young girls do the workout with coaches “Candy Hooligan”, “Pixie Painful” and “Liv and let Die” I was exhausted by their efforts. I popped out onto the floor and began to preach the word around Grind Out Hunger. At the end of the talk, I had challenged them to raise 100lbs each and I would reward them with a prize. If the work out was any indication of what the Junior Derby Girls were capable of, I was sure they would rise to the feat.
Monthly Archive: July 2009
Jul
16
TakePart.com blogs about Grind Out Hunger
Take Part
Grinding Out Hunger in Santa Cruz Posted by Travis Kaya on July 16, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Santa Cruz Skate Shop owner Danny Keith is on a mission to end hunger in his community by energizing young skaters to give back. Since 2004, Keith’s organization, Grind Out Hunger, has partnered with local schools to educate youth about hunger in their backyard and encourage students to donate food.
Every year, a number of schools take part in a friendly competition to see which student body can collect the most food donations, with the top 3 contenders sharing $1,200 in Santa Cruz Skate Shop gift certificates. Using innovative, student-driven projects, the more than 50 participating schools were able to collect 150,000 pounds of food in 2007–and the organization’s reach continues to grow.
In the vein of other skateboard nonprofits, Grind Out Hunger has partnered with Skateboards.com and Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest) to get food donations to families in need. A recipient of Feeding America’s Generation Next award, Keith hopes the program will serve as a model for food banks around the country to engage local youth, especially those interested in skateboarding. He is currently working on a DVD and media kit that will eventually be distributed nationally, and has designed a Grind Out Hunger skateboard deck (left) with all proceeds going to the rapidly growing organization.
“I enjoy being able to bring the message to the action sports youth in our area,” Keith says. “I feel that if informed kids have the biggest hearts and love a competition.”
Check out the screen shot from Take Part!
Jul
08
Grind Out Hunger is showcased on Santa Cruz local TV show
Ring…..ring…RD: “Hello”…..Greg Archer: “Hello DK, I have an opportunity for Grind Out Hunger and for you to be interviewed on So Wat TV”…RD:”Awesome, when can we do this?”…Greg Archer: “Can you be downtown in 15 minutes?”…RD:”Sure”. And so it goes, when that phone call went down it was 7:45pm and I had just gotten home. I quickly showered up and flew to downtown Santa Cruz, where local Community TV has its station. I literally walked in and within 5 minutes we were live on air. Now this is a small show, community right? I must have gotten dozens of texts/emails and tweets about how people saw me on So Wat TV. Most of the show was dedicated to Grind Out Hunger, how it started, why we are around, what we do and how to get involved. Hosts Jeff Dinnel and Chip (the man with 3 first names?) were more than cordial and I was able to make my statements for Grind Out Hunger, thanks again to Greg Archer for the hook up and So Wat TV for accommodating our cause!
$1 = 3 pounds for your school!
