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The Bronx Girls Skate Jam was held at Van Cortlandt Skatepark on July 10th. Organized and run by HHF ambassadors and Bronx Girls Skate founders/Bronx natives Kava Vasquez and Mel Ramirez, the grassroots event was focused on unifying the NYC skateboarding community by welcoming everyone to come together and shred.
Recap video shot and edited by JLast Edits.  Harold was beloved in Japan! That’s why we’re honored to have teamed up with one of Japan’s top brands and retailers, Journal Standard, for a special drop of limited-edition tees featuring classic Harold photos by Gunars Elmuts and artwork by Kevin Lyons. A portion of proceeds from this charitable capsule collection will be donated to HHF so we can further our mission of providing support, opportunity, and advocacy for NYC skateboarders. Available exclusively through Baycrews in Japan, international shipping is available during the checkout process on their website. #LegendsNeverDie Lifestyle photos courtesy of Ray Mendez and Ben Seligson.             On June 26th, the Skate for Changes Skate Jam & BBQ was held at Cooper Skatepark in Brooklyn. It was a fun day with some incredible skateboarding thrown down by the HHF crew and others. Skate for Changes is a BIPOC-led skate collective focused on community building, mutual aid, and bridging the divide between skaters of color and their communities.
Video shot by @bryant333 and @djangomaan. Video edited by Michael Furnari.  On Saturday night, July 24th, we're celebrating the debut of skateboarding at the Summer Games with a special watch party at The Skinny Bar & Lounge benefiting the Harold Hunter Foundation.
Co-hosted by Alex Corporan and JZ Radical, this free event will run from 8-10pm and feature a live stream of the Men's Street Skate Finals, plus a raffle and complimentary drink upon entry (must be 21+ with proper ID to attend). Please register in advance if you plan to join us. While this is a free event we ask that you consider supporting the Harold Hunter Foundation by making a donation. Thank you! HHF Coach/Mentor, Eliza Gonzalez, hosted an all-ages skate jam and best trick contest on June 5th at the Forest Park (PZ) Skatepark in Queens. Featuring free food and beverages, cash prizes, giveaways, and a massive product toss, the Queens Skate Jam was an excellent way to kick-off the summer skate season in NYC. Recap video shot and edited by Michael Furnari.   It’s been 26 years since the groundbreaking film Kids was released. Now, The Kids is a documentary on the inside story of the kids who inspired the 1995 cult classic. This highly anticipated film will make its world premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival.
While the in-person premiere is now sold out, you can still get tickets for the virtual premiere on Saturday, June 12th at 6pm ET. The purchased film will remain available to stream on demand through June 23rd. Please note, streaming Tribeca at Home is not available outside the US. Photo: Gunars Elmuts  Homage Skateboards turns 15 this June, and to celebrate this major milestone they’ve teamed up with pro skater/artist Alexis Sablone for a limited-edition deck collaboration. Now available through the Homage website and in-store, a portion of proceeds from each deck sold will be donated to the Harold Hunter Foundation, Skateistan, and The Skatepark Project. "I was happy to design a series for Homage because I love what they’re about and everything they do for the local skate community. For me, every creative process starts with too many directions and only through drawing and redrawing does one idea continue to reappear—to stick. I can’t say why it happens, but it does, and it's that idea I try to run with. With a series like this one, once I have one small piece decided, I like to build a narrative around it to find the others. The resultant story might not be fully coherent or even readily apparent to others, but it’s a story, to me, nonetheless, that ties everything together." -Alexis Sablone     As members of the global skateboarding community, we have come together to make a collective commitment to actively resist and challenge systemic racism in our own scenes, organizations, the skateboard industry, and wider society. The Commitment to Anti-Racism in Skateboarding is an idea led by the Goodpush Alliance, together with members from a dozen social skateboarding organizations worldwide. HHF is very proud to be a supporter of this initiative. The goals of the Commitment to Anti-Racism in Skateboarding are to:
Click here to read and sign the Commitment to Anti-Racism in Skateboarding.    HHF IS GROWING As we launch our 2021 programs season, we are transitioning to a new community outreach model of our Legacy Program, designed to be responsive to emerging community needs and expand HHF’s reach and impact in the skate community via informal skate sessions, one-on-one support, work and life skills workshops, mutual aid initiatives, and outreach events. We have made a major investment in HHF infrastructure by adding 6 new Coach/Mentors and a Community Outreach Coordinator via continued essential support from Up2Us Sports’ AmeriCorps Coach and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) programs, as well as a Social Worker and new Director of Programs. We are extremely proud that each of these positions is held by a passionate NYC skateboarder. HHF PROGRAMS LEADERSHIP TEAM:  HHF COACH/MENTORS:  HHF Coach/Mentors are credible messengers from within the skateboarding community who have deep lived experience with the challenges our youth face. Under the supervision of our Social Worker, they act as skatepark stewards, provide case management, mentorship, and psychosocial support; connect youth/young adult skateboarders with resources and opportunities; and recruit them into more structured workforce readiness and youth development programs. They receive training in ethics, mental health first aid/crisis intervention, trauma-informed coaching, suicide prevention, peer counseling, case management, restorative justice practices, and bystander intervention. HHF COLLABORATIONS  A sincere thank you to everyone that helped us celebrate Harold’s 47th Birthday on April 2nd by purchasing a limited-edition "Collector's Deck" designed by Seth Neary featuring classic Harold photos by Gunars Elmuts. The decks sold out in just 5-hours with all proceeds supporting HHF programming.  A handful of Element x HHF “Legends Never Die” decks are still available exclusively through Element’s website. This charitable deck is part of a larger year-long Element partnership that will result in a series of collaborative HHF initiatives supporting NYC youth by leveraging skateboarding, art, sustainability, and professional development.  Couch Curbs, run by Willy Santos, recently launched an artist series collaboration with skate icon Chris “Dune” Pastras. The anti-racism themed collection is available on the Couch Curbs website and includes a t-shirt, dad hat, and screen-printed red curb pillow for your couch. A portion of proceeds will be donated to HHF.  USA Skateboarding has teamed up with artist Henry Jones on a limited-edition product capsule in an effort to fight racism. Available for purchase here, the collection features a deck, hat, t-shirt, griptape, stickers, and mug. 10% of net proceeds will be donated to HHF. Plus, all orders support Team USA on the road to Tokyo 2021. We have a lot planned over the coming months. Without the continued support of the HHF community, none of it would be possible. THANK YOU for your support!
 In celebration of Harold's 47th Birthday (April 2, 1974), we're proud to release a limited-edition collector's deck with all proceeds benefiting the Harold Hunter Foundation. Featuring a hand-cut collage design by Seth Neary of Driven Studio, only 47 decks are available and each comes with an 8"x12" print of the classic 1995 Harold photo featured on the board graphic. Each "Bleecker Banks" print is signed by photographer Gunars Elmuts. This exclusive deck ($75) is 8.125" wide and manufactured by Chapman Skateboards. UPDATE: SOLD OUT SETH NEARY PROJECT STATEMENT: I love New York City! Growing up on a dirt road in Vermont and fantasizing about break dancing, hip hop, and skateboarding, NYC was very influential in my young life. Thankfully by the grace of skateboarding, I would make my way to NYC for occasional skate trips and, in the '90s, if you were skating in NYC you were bound to see Harold. I first met Harold through my good friend Gunars Elmuts. PSNY sponsored us both for a short time. Harold was mad cool, funny, and inclusive. He made me feel welcome in NYC in his way. We skated, hit Spoon, laughed, stayed out late, and peaced out. I'd see Harold on almost every trip to NYC in the '90s. When the HHF crew asked me to create a board graphic for Harold’s birthday, I was not only humbled but honored—and nervous as hell. Harold is NEW YORK! Harold is dearly missed, and Harold is a legend! I contacted Gunars and asked him if I could use some of his images of Harold, and he graciously said, "Of course." Gunars sent me a folder of photos and, after combing through, I recognized a session at Bleecker Banks (Bird Shit Banks). The sequence was something all skaters can relate to—the warm-up ollie, couple throwaways, the aggression and frustration, the make, and finally the smile and high-five. Gunars captured it all. It was intimate; it was a rad one-on-one session, and it’s a time capsule. I chose the "make" photo and one "frustration" photo and collaged the rest. I reached out to Andre Razo, my consigliere, for consultation and got the nod. The process was organic and heartfelt. I love skateboarding, NYC, and Harold. Legends Never Die. GUNARS ELMUTS PROJECT STATEMENT: I'm always excited to help HHF. What they do for under-served kids in NYC is incredible. I know Harold would be proud! He was always so encouraging and generous with everyone who wanted to skate. HHF is completely in line with who Harold was as a person. The day we shot these photos was super fun. Harold came by PSNY on 6th Avenue (where I sponsored him before Supreme took over) and we went down to Bleecker Street (a block away) and shot what you see here. It was just me and him. Harold always wanted to shoot photos. I remember we were trying to shoot a sequence of a trick and he kept bailing. I shot about four rolls of film without a make so I just tossed the film down the street—which I now regret—since I didn't want to spend the time or money to develop film with no makes! So, we went back to just shooting stills of the straight heelflip. This photo ended up in TW Skate—Harold and I were pretty stoked about that. Over the years a lot of people told me they had this picture on their wall from the mag, so having it on a deck now seems like a great place for it to live on. I hope the board gets skated and destroyed as Harold would've done—that's why we decided to include a signed photo with each order. It'll be cool to see before and after pics of the deck once it's been thrashed!   |
Harold Hunter FoundationThe Harold Hunter Foundation (HHF) is a grassroots, community-based organization that provides support, opportunity, and advocacy for skateboarders in NYC and beyond. Archives
July 2021
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