Posts Tagged ‘santa cruz junior derby girls’

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

Friday, January 15th, 2010

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)

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

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

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

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

Gateway Elementary School $300 prize

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…

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

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

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 Boy Scouts

Santa Cruz Derby Groms

Santa Cruz Derby Groms

John Reger and Grind Out Hunger's DK

John Reger and Grind Out Hunger's DK

Second Harvest Food Bank working hard

Second Harvest Food Bank working hard

Santa Cruz Junior Derby Girls choose Grind Out Hunger as 2009 Charity

Monday, July 27th, 2009

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.