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Looks like people are noticing the local talent we have out in our community! We just read this letter to the editior in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about two local bands that support Grind Out Hunger; Almost Chaos AND Blue Weekend. Thought we would share this with you all and give you a little bit more info about our involvement with middle/high school bands and how YOU can get involved.

Letter to the Editor, Santa Cruz Sentinel, 12/31/11

Ever since the Fury 66 Reunion show to benefit Grind Out Hunger, GOH has been getting several requests by local bands to play benefit concerts of their own. Many of these are local middle school and high school bands, with the occasional bigger bands such as I Don’t Wanna Hear It. Grind Out Hunger is first and foremost about empowering the youth. Any band that approaches us wanting to use their music to make a difference in their community will be immediately welcomed.

Almost Chaos, a big supporter of Grind Out Hunger, which was not stated in letter to the editor above, is only one of the many bands playing music to support the cause. The members of the band are quickly moving forward in their musical careers and are supporting our cause every step of the way. These kids have immense talent and if you havent had a chance to listen to them yet, be sure to.

We recently had a benefit show at Aptos Christian Fellowship Church where several high school bands played including; Rat Trap, Bell Thieves, Funk Faction, and Otis and the Fascist Bagels. Blue Weekend was scheduled to headline this event, but unfortunately had to back out at the last minute due to a sick band member. We approached them later after the show and asked if they would be willing to play a private show at the Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop to benefit Grind Out Hunger. Amped on the idea, they said yes. We are in discussion with them about a date and time. Stay tuned for more info. You aren’t going to want to miss this show.

If you are in a band and want to arrange/chat about setting up a benefit show please send an email to: SHAWN HATJES

Happy New Years Everyone!
And ROCK ON!

Almost Chaos donating cans to Grind Out Hunger

Blue Weekend

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Grind Out Hunger 2010 goal of 250,000 pounds

7 years ago when Grind Out Hunger was founded, I would have never imagined that it could become such a powerful tool for the youth. As I sit here and write on this day of excitement and family gatherings aka Christmas Eve, I can only think of all of the families that will have a holiday meal because the youth of Santa Cruz County stepped up and made a dent in the overall need of Second Harvest Food Banks 2.1 Million pound goal. I started this year at St. Francis High School, John Marheineke invited me out and the students claimed “8000 pounds is our goal”…he pulled me aside and asked me if I was crazy they had never raised more than a couple hundred pounds…I said to him “watch what these kids will do”…bookend that with Monterey Coast Prep’s Sinda Merrit excerpt from Facebook chats and phone calls “Hi its Sinda, this year Monterey Coast Prep is planning to double 2009′s raise of 8000 pounds, just thought I would give you a heads up”…

Then the year was off to a whirl wind Santa Cruz County Fair on September 15th was the official kickoff for the window on Grind Out Hunger overall thousands of kids came through and dropped food into the Grind Out Hunger Halfpipe…I must mention that we had some serious support from the Strubing Family/Skateworks Skate Shop, 102.5 KDON and The Morning Madhouse, Jimbo Phillips Graphix, Second Harvest Food Bank, FRINGE Gear, TAC Apparel, Shawn Hatjes/Santa Cruz Waves, 3D Construction , Jesse Gullings Painting, SKATEBOARDS.com, Rotary Interact and Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop.

Once the year kicked off I then began my rounds to schools, Monterey Bay Academy, St Francis High, Ceiba College Prep, Ocean Alternative School, Spring Hill Elementary, Aptos Jr High, Mission Hill Middle School, Santa Cruz High, Soquel High, Monte Vista Christian, Lakeview Middle School, Salesian Elementary, Gateway Elementary, Cabrillo College and there are probably more I am missing that I visited. This is not including all of the schools that participated in the Grind Out Hunger contest!! Rio Del Mar Elementary, Monterey Coast Prep, Aptos High School, Harbor High, Watsonville High, UCSC and lots more. All along the way watching as kids eyes lit up realizing their goal…

There were special events this year, Tarp Surfing came on board and raised 500 pounds, Rapid Fire donated their concert proceeds to Grind Out Hunger, 3D Construction’s Dominc Cusimano and Jesse Gullings Painting along with wood donated from Big Creek and Pro Build built a mobile skatepark allowing Grind Out Hunger to have skate events with Twin Lakes Church and Rotary Interact had the 1st Annual Skateathon as did Whole Foods Santa Cruz and Rotary Interact Skate Jam. Whole Foods Capitola held a Taste of Elegance and a few anonymous donors supported Grind Out Hunger and the youth. Home Space/Work Space did a 3 day extravaganza raising over $1000.  Shawn Hatjes Photography made photo post cards and donated profits to Grind Out Hunger. Appetizer Media donated proceeds from their iPhone Game and tons of skateboards were sold this year by the schools. It seemed as if everyone in Santa Cruz County was aware of Grind Out Hunger and wanted to help.

People Magazine recognized Grind Out Hunger as an All Star Among Us which meant we got to stand at home plate during a SF Giants game and providing the chance to run some food drives in Atlanta and New Jersey which ultimately, the goal is to take Grind Out Hunger nationwide.

This was another year of press with Grind Out Hunger getting coverage in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Register Pajaronian, Aptos Times, Mid County Post, GoodTimes, Santa Cruz Weekly, The Huffington Post, People Magazine, KSBW 8, KION 46, Community TV and Santa Cruz Waves.

2010 was one of success, numerous schools went above the 10,000 pound mark while one school went above the 20,000 pound mark all skating towards the 250,000 pound goal for this year.

A full recap with poundage from each school is coming as Second Harvest is still tallying the results from all that was collected in the 2010 Grind Out Hunger campaign and I have a feeling…call it a hunch…ok I have inside info…because the youth of Santa Cruz County decided they wanted to feed kids this year I am confident we will meet that goal of 250,00 pounds.

As I close, please take a moment and recognize the youth of Santa Cruz County, their supporters, their schools and their hearts which drove them to collect as much food and cash as humanly possible to feed kids.

I also want to recognize the staff that made all of this possible at Second Harvest Food Bank, Willy Elliot-McCrea whom without I could have never gotten off the ground, Sam Neider my trusty Grind Out Hunger assistant, Bly Morales for helping me make sure I knew where I was supposed to be and snapping pics, Lisa Allyn for keeping the spreadsheet straight, Vicki Lowell for blogging it up, Clyde Kimura for handling all of those barrel pick ups at schools around the county, All of the Second Harvest Drivers that had to go into the schools and get those full barrels, Brooke Johnson for tolerating the madness of delivering ramps all over the place and blessing the use of trucks, Victor Kimura for organizing insurance coverage for the skate events, Ernesto Nieves for organizing the storage and delivery of the skate ramps, Carlos Juarez, Doug Brooks, Mark Rodriguez and Frank Hernandez for hauling and deploying ramps even in the pouring rain so kids could skate, Megan Riggs for coming out and manning the tables at the skate events and finally accounting for counting all those dollars and cents the kids donated to make our goal of 250,000 pounds. Meet the Second Harvest Staff Here I genuinely thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Enjoy the pics from this years 2010 Grind Out Hunger campaign….Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Stay tuned for a full update in 2011 as we announce the total pounds raised, the standouts that made it happen and the plans for 2011 Grind Out Hunger…

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Click the image to read the story from Santa Cruz Sentinel

Tiny school fills the food barrels: Monterey Coast Prep tips the donation scales

By Isaiah Guzman – Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted: 12/17/2010 04:49:41 PM PST

SANTA CRUZ — With just 24 students, Monterey Coast Preparatory wouldn’t even fill an average junior high or high school classroom.

But with those same 24 students and eight teachers, the tiny private school on Fern Street is filling more barrels with donated food than any county school during the holidays.

“That’s the one thing we all do together,” said Monterey Coast Prep junior and student coordinator DanielGarcia-Estuesta. “This is not for class credit. This is on our own accord.”

Monterey Coast Prep, a junior high and high school combination, had raised 10,823 pounds of food for the hungry as of Tuesday. That’s more than 2,000 pounds above its county-best 8,629 raised last year and almost as much as the combined 11,000 pounds raised by Aptos High and Aptos Junior High in 2009. Or, as Garcia-Estuesta will tell you without a calculator, that’s almost 451 pounds raised per student.

“Don’t take things for granted,” the 16-year-old said. “Help other people when you can. Just be like everyone’s your neighbor. You don’t know them? It’s just somebody you haven’t gotten in touch with yet.”

Along with more than 60 other area schools, Monterey Coast Prep raises food for Second Harvest Food Bank through Grind Out Hunger, a campaign that has motivated youth to raise more than 500,000 pounds of food for their peers in need since 2004. The nonprofit is trying to help Second Harvest reach its goal of 2.1 million pounds this holiday season.

As incentive, Grind Out Hunger offers skateboard and surf gear to the winning schools, which compete in separate elementary, junior high and high school divisions.

Then there’s the heavyweight division, created by Grind Out Hunger founder Danny Keith specifically for Monterey Coast Prep.

“Otherwise,” he said, “they would win every time. … They’ve literally become the footprint of how to run an efficient Grind Out Hunger campaign.”

And, as footprints go, Monterey Coast Prep leaves a creative one.

The school has a Friday community service class dedicated solely to helping kids come up with ideas for raising food and funds for Grind Out Hunger. They do things like gift wrap on Pacific Avenue, charge $10 or a bag of food to attend the school Halloween party and pick apples in the Aptos hills orchard of school parent Jill McKee.

The school attributes its success to being as much a family as it is an educational facility. Students, teachers and their families, in fact, cooked and spent Thanksgiving dinner together on campus this year.

“I think because we’re so intimate we can really develop school spirit together,” McKee said. “It’s become a strong sense of pride to support Second Harvest.”

School director, Sinda Merritt, said the school’s interest in raising food started on a somewhat intimate level as well. She said a student went over to a friend’s house and saw a 50-pound bag of rice another student had donated to Second Harvest.

“She had no idea that her (friend’s) family was having problems,” Merritt said. “She came back and told us the story and it’s what fueled our interest in Second Harvest.”

Grind Out Hunger

WHAT: A nonprofit aimed at getting local schools involved in the holiday fight against hunger.

WHERE: Donation barrels are placed at each participating school throughout the county.

WHEN: Now through the end of the holidays.

WHO: The nonprofit was founded by Danny Keith, owner of Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop on 41st Avenue. More than 60 local schools participate.

DETAILS: To learn more about Grind Out Hunger or to get involved, visit www.grindouthunger.org.

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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…

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Grind Out Hunger is on a tear, with more press this year than ever, the Grind Out Hunger skate deck ($100 sale price and 100% of proceeds benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County) was featured in the Santa Cruz Sentinel 2009 Gift Guide. Below is the excerpt from the paper and the image:

“And if you want to embrace the holiday’s spirit, don’t forget the Grind Out Hunger skateboard deck, available at the Santa Cruz Surf and Skate Shop. Designed each year by local skater Danny Keith, the deck costs $100 and all proceeds benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank.”

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)

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Capitola skateboarder Danny Keith helps the Second Harvest Food Bank collect food for the needy

By ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

Posted: 11/26/2009 01:30:11 AM PST

WATSONVILLE — Danny Keith felt a sense of accomplishment Wednesday as he watched 30 volunteers at the Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville sort through food about to be delivered to the hungry for Thanksgiving.

That’s because much of it was raised through his charity, Grind Out Hunger.

“We’re visiting local schools throughout the county, and we get as many kids as we can to raise as much pounds per student per school as possible,” said Keith, owner of the Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop in Capitola. “Then the store offers a prize back for the best high, middle and elementary schools.”

The charity’s logo — a skateboarder carving into a bowl while holding a food bag — and name sum up Keith’s spirit. With his cool cap and sunglasses, the long-haired 40-year-old, who formed the charity in 2004, catches kids’ attention. Speaking their language, Keith knows how to raise their interest in issues like hunger.

“It is amazing to see Danny with the kids,” said Bly Morales, food drive and events manager for the food bank. “He’s like a rock star to them.”

It all started with a couple of barrels in Keith’s 41st Avenue skateshop a few years ago. Each holiday season, he gave discounts to customers who filled them with food for the needy. But the barrels remained half empty, Keith said. He decided to ramp it up.

“If I couldn’t do it in my shop, I needed to take it directly to the kids,” Keith said. “That’s how I came up with the idea of Grind Out Hunger.
Each year, Keith creates a special Grind Out Hunger deck he sells for $100. He gives the money earned from the sales to the food bank, he said.

Keith thinks the initiative is successful in schools because it is an extension of the skateboarding spirit — sticking together and taking care of your own.

“When I’m talking to a class, the first kids to react are skateboarders,” Keith said. “And somehow it just emanates out to other kids in the school.”

The charity has teamed up with the Second Harvest Food Bank since 2004. Working with more than 180 local agencies, the charity collects, sorts and distributes food throughout the county.

“It’s really good having that kind of guy helping us out,” Morales said.

With the goal of collecting 2 million pounds of food during this year’s holiday season, volunteers and workers at the food bank are working harder than ever, according to Morales. Even though she does not have results yet, as the holiday season is just beginning, Morales said she believes in the community’s generosity and expects Second Harvest to reach its goal.

A Watsonville resident, Morales has worked for the food bank for the past two years and is concerned by the significant increase of people in need. The number of people asking for food has jumped 30 percent compared to last year, she said. Morales has even seen previous donors coming to the charity and asking for food this year, she said.

“When I started Grind Out Hunger, the food bank served 30,000 people a month. Now it has jumped to 60,000 a month” Keith said. “It means one in four children is going hungry, so we really have to do our best.”

Grind Out Hunger is touring in more than 50 schools this season, Keith said. After collecting 60,000 pounds of food in 2008, Keith’s objective this year is to jump up to 100,000 pounds.

The campaign is more rewarding than owning the shop, Keith said, and he vowed the Grind Out Hunger effort should continue as long as people go hungry.

“I’d rather go skateboarding or surfing but as long as people need our help, I’ll be here a 100 percent,” Keith said.

Danny Keith of Grind Out Hunger and Bly Morales Second Harvest Food Bank Food Drives and Events Manager photo by Smuel Thaler for Santa Cruz Sentinel

Danny Keith holding Grind Out Hunger Deck photo by Smuel Thaler for Santa Cruz Sentinel