Tag Archive: santa cruz county

Jan
15

NEWSFLASH!!!The Kids make it happen!!!Grind Out Hunger smashes 100,000lb goal!

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Press

Kids…are POWERFUL!!!!

I am overcome with emotion while writing this blog…Grind Out Hunger set a goal of 100,000lbs for the 2009-2010 Kids Helping Kids Holiday Food Drive…Bly Morales, Lisa Allyn and myself planned speaking engagements, distributed DVD’s, spoke at dozens of schools across Santa Cruz County, built a holiday window downtown, muscled a 41st Ave Safeway food drive, landed the cover for the Thanksgiving edition of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, 102.5 KDON was the leading media sponsor, Santa Cruz Junior Derby Girls raised food, birthday party food drives were going down, Grind Out Hunger Skateboards were selling like hotcakes, 831 magazine did a cover story on Grind Out Hunger….I could go on and on with the exposure and support for Grind Out Hunger in 2009. But when it comes right down to it, THE KIDS ARE THE ONES WHO PULLED THROUGH AND MADE THIS HAPPEN and I am proud to say for the 2009-2010 Grind Out Hunger Campaign together we raised 116,853 pounds not only smashing the goal of 100,000 pounds but almost doubling 2008-2009′s 60,000 pounds….never underestimate the YOUTH!

Below are the winners of the 2009-2010 Grind Out Hunger food drive, congratulations to all! I am so humbled at the support and love that Grind Out Hunger has received….we will see you at the March 10th awards dinner.

A 'Grind Out Hunger' skate deck from Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop on 41st Avenue can help out the needy while at the same time giving the teen in your life a treasured present (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)

Empire Academy winning high school $600 prize and 3-Pete raising 8530lbs

Aptos Jr. High middle school winner $300 prize raised 7800lbs

Gateway Elementary School $300 prize

Special thanks to: Bly Morales, Willy McRea, Lisa Allyn, Sheree Storm, Kate Chabrek, Jimbo Phillips(provided art for skateboard deck and campaign), Sam Segovia, Showbiz, The Morning Madhouse, 102.5 KDON, Greg Archer, The Good Times, SoWat TV, The Santa Cruz Sentinel, KION 46, 831 Magazine, Ryan Zen Lama, All the schools that had us out to talk, Safeway on 41st Ave, Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop, Zane Keith, Cole Kerby, Mia Morales, Omar Morales, Xavier Morales, Mark Conley, Romain Fonsegrives, Shmuel Thaler, Santa Cruz Innovation and Design, Maya Delano, Lars Maptstead, Paul Gallagher, Surf Club at Berkley, people that donated money though Facebook, volunteers that helped out anytime we asked, The Santa Cruz County Boy Scouts, Brian Russ, Classic Cleaners, Coats For Kids, Dusty Nelson (DVD master!), iSpot Compassion, Second Harvest Food Bank and of course my wife Taniya and family for supporting me with everything needed to make all of these things happen….

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!!!!

2010-2011 here we come…

Tags: 102.5 kdon, 831 Magazine, Aptos Jr. High School, danny keith, empire academy, gateway elementary school, greg archer, grind out hunger skateboard, kion 46, sam diggedy, santa cruz county, santa cruz design and innovation, santa cruz junior derby girls, santa cruz sentinel, santa cruz skate and surf shop, second harvest food bank, so wat tv, the morning madhouse

Jan
12

Empire Academy raises 8500lbs for Grind Out Hunger

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Press

Competition is fierce this year as school after school continue to post record numbers in this years Grind Out Hunger campaign. Eying the post of Aptos Jr. High, Empire Academy knew it had its work cut out for them. They put the screws to it and manifested a whopping 8530lbs of food/cash donated to Grind Out Hunger. Empire Academy managed to crush 2008. KION 46 was on site to film the event and the Santa Cruz Sentinel wrote a nice piece on how this 27 student school managed to raise 300lbs per student…The presentation was awesome, it is moving to see kids rally for their own. Kids helping kids..its what its all about.

Empire Academy presents check to Grind Out Hunger

Grind Out Hunger gladly accepts Empire Academies check

Sinda for Empire Academy getting down on KION

Empire Academy about to go 3-pete!!!

Tags: empire academy, grind out hunger, kion 46, santa cruz county, second harvest food bank, sinda merrit

Nov
29

Grind Out Hunger inspires donate food birthday party celebration

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Events

I know I have mentioned over and over how Grind Out Hunger is starting to branch out past its original intentions…I never thought I would see the day that good friends decided to pick up the challenge and combine their birthday parties, invite everyone they can think of and request “NO GIFTS” only food to be donated. So we headed over to La Torta Gorda and feasted on Carne Asada fries and incredible Torta’s…Being that these are great friends I knew they would come through, and I wasn’t disappointed with two full cans (250 lbs!!!) it is incredible what a movement can create. I have the best friends in the world, Happy Birthday to Kari, Ray and Dave all of whom went without so that someone else didn’t have to…once again I am completely floored at how people can make a difference.

Kari…thank you again for this idea and hopefully it will inspire others.

P.S. I cannot forget to mention that Ray managed to Beat the La Torta Gorda challenge…that was allot of food!

Arrived empty and leaving full Grind Out Hunger

L to R Birthday superstars Ray, Kari and Dave

Birthday party success 2 full cans = 250lbs!!!

Tags: grind out hunger, holiday food drive, la torta gorda, santa cruz county, santa cruz skate and surf shop, second harvest food bank

Nov
23

Schools can now Donate Online for Grind Out Hunger

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Press

Second Harvest Food Bank of SantaCruz County has definitely pulled out all the stops for Grind Out Hunger 2009-2010. Now all schools can donate online and have it count towards their overall pounds per student Grind Out Hunger Holiday Food Drive. Go here DONATE ONLINE and help make a difference this holiday season. With over 60,000 people needing help every month in Santa Cruz County, its up to us to help them out. Think about kids and elderly going hungry this holiday season and I am sure you can donate some cash..

Donate Online Grind Out Hunger

Tags: danny keith, donate online, grind out hunger, grind out hunger skateboard, holiday food drive, santa cruz county, santa cruz skate and surf shop, second harvest food bank

Nov
19

Grind Out Hunger at Twin Lakes Church on KION/KCBA TV

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Events

The holiday season is definitely a magical time, people are thinking about family….where they are planning to travel…and what they are going to eat…this is where the last part gets tricky. Second Harvest Food Bank has a 2 million pound goal this year and frankly its one of the toughest years ever for our community. 60,000 people are being serviced every month with a great majority of these people being children under 12 and seniors over 60. Grind Out Hunger was again fortunate to get some air time to spread the message and motivate the youth of Santa Cruz County. Twin Lakes Church‘s Rene Schlaepfer has an infectious personality that can move mountains with the help of his congregation and never ceases to set records. Once again KION 46 and KCBA 35 with anchor John Reger on site urging community members to drive down and support the holiday food drive. Brian Russ brought the Boy Scouts who helped pack food and direct traffic for incoming cars to donate, while the Santa Cruz Derby Groms made an appearance end electrified the night even recording a “Good Morning Central Coast” for KION 46. The Second Harvest Family was once again in place and operating like a well oiled machine…It feels like we are half way there and that means we still need another 1 million pounds of food…can you help?

Santa Cruz Boy Scouts

Santa Cruz Derby Groms

John Reger and Grind Out Hunger's DK

Second Harvest Food Bank working hard

Tags: grind out hunger, holiday food drive, john reger, kcba 35, kiki clash, kion 46, rene schlaepfer, santa cruz county, santa cruz junior derby girls, second harvest food bank, twin lakes church

Nov
19

PSA on KDON 102.5

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Press

KDON 102.5 is down for the community and they show their support in Santa Cruz County by being a media sponsor for Grind Out Hunger. Bringing heat daily for the 831, KDON 102.5 ‘s Sam Diggedy host of The Morning Madhouse “Skaters are a unified group that take care of their own, Grind Out Hunger utilizes this mindset to influence the kids to help kids..we are amped to be on board…no pun intended”. Check out The Morning Madhouse every day from 6am to 10am .

Listen to the 15 second commercial here Grind Out Hunger KDON/PSA 15sec and the 30 second PSA commercial here Grind Out Hunger KDON/PSA 30sec . Pic below is none other than Showbiz of The Morning Madhouse locking tracks for the PSA. Much love to the KDON family.