Before winning Thrasher Magazine’s 2018 Skater of the Year, releasing 2 full parts this past year (Supreme’s Blessed and “Killer”), and also landing the cover of Thrasher’s January 2019 issue, Tyshawn Jones was a HHF Woodward Scholarship Recipient back in 2011. (The youngest camper in HHF history). It’s been a big year for TJ, but skateboarding isn’t the only thing he’s pursuing. 3 months ago, he opened up the restaurant, Taste so Good (Make You Wanna Slap Your Mama) just around the corner from his childhood home and  his old school, I.S. 131 in the Bronx. Besides the restaurant being a shared dream of him and his mother, TJ also opened the restaurant to “give people fresh food, food that they don’t have” in a neighborhood filled with only fast food. At HHF, we’re proud of TJ and his profound accomplishments as a skater and now a community oriented restaurateur.

Check out New York Magazine's coverage of TJ's new restaurant here

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2018 has been a milestone year for the Harold Hunter Foundation. Not only did we host the best HH Weekend ever and send our largest group of 50 scholarship recipients, interns, youth chaperones, and mentors to Woodward skate camp for the 12th consecutive year, we also launched a new program - the HHF Legacy Program - which has the potential to be transformative in the lives of the young people it touches.

Click on the image above to watch a video recap of the Legacy Program and click on any of the links in the text above or below for more details on all of the exciting developments at HHF.  

Informed by the results of our groundbreaking 2016 needs assessment of more than 300 NYC skaters, the Legacy Program combines skateboarding activities with life skills, college and career exploration, and year-round psychosocial support.

The “secret sauce” to our program is organic mentorship, which honors the culture of skateboarding by embracing the spirit of freedom, independence, creativity, and spontaneity, while also allowing authentic mentorship relationships to develop and grow naturally. In this way, we are able to give our young people what they want (to be part of an authentic, skateboarding community) along with what they need (age-appropriate developmental activities and trauma-sensitive support). 

The Legacy Program has attracted overwhelming interest and support from the sports-based youth development community. The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and Up2Us Sports provided funding and in-kind support, respectively, allowing HHF to hire the coach/mentors who run the program and provide them with groundbreaking training. These partnerships also allowed HHF staff to participate in trainings and summits in Chicago, Los Angeles and Paris, exposing our work to national and international audiences.  We were also one of only twelve organizations in the country to receive a special $25,000 gift from NIKE, to recognize our work with the Latino community in commemoration of of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Most importantly, the program is deeply impacting our young people, as they have become part of a positive peer group where they receive guidance and support from credible messengers. Impact data found that 93% of our participants made gains in targeted social emotional learning outcomes, with the greatest gains in developing a sense of positive self-identity, enhancing social skills such as empathy, and expanding social capital.
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​We are extremely proud of our progress and pleased with our success. Thank you as always for your interest in and support of HHF, and we look forward to bringing you more good news in 2019 and beyond!

The HHF Legacy Program concluded this month with a screening of “Minding the Gap,” a critically acclaimed documentary about the lives three skaters in a rust belt town in Illinois. This event culminated six months of life skills workshops at House of Vans, informal skate sessions around the city, monthly one-on-ones with coach/mentors, and a one-week stay at Camp Woodward action sports camp. Among the highlights from the program were workshops on HHF’s Core Values/NYC Skate History, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Identifying One’s Own Core Values/Purpose, Career Paths in the Skateboarding Industry, Defining Success and Setting Intentions, and skills exploration in film, photography, music, visual art and design, and STEM.  A big thank you to our partners House of Vans, Laureus USA, Up2Us Sports, and American Chai Trust for making these enriching activities possible 45 youth.

For the 12th year HHF sent our largest group of 50 scholarship recipients, coach/mentor chaperones, Filmer Project interns and mentors, and HHF staff to Camp Woodward for an awesome week of skating, relaxing, meeting new people, bonding with each other, and just kicking back and enjoying some quality time out of the city. All 33 scholarship recipients were participants in the Legacy Program and earned their trip to camp through regular participation and enthusiastic engagement in the program. Check out this recap video filmed by HHF Filmer interns and mentors and edited by Filmer Intern Gustavo Morla: ​

Photos courtesy of Orlando Gil, Bradley Afroilan, and Jharif Corchado.

On July 17-19, HHF Co-Founder and Executive Director Jessica attended the Laureus USA Sport for Good Summit in Los Angeles. The event brought together 250 representatives from Laureus grantee organizations, other sports-based youth development organizations, sector funders, and athlete ambassadors from around the country to network, participate in workshops, and share best practices. NBA All-Star Chris Paul and Olympic Gold Medalist Alison Felix were among the athletes and celebrities who participated in the three-day event, which coincided with the 100th birthday of Laureus’ founding patron and international civil rights icon Nelson Mandela. ​

​Harold Hunter Weekend went down from May 31 - June 3 in NYC. Huge thanks to presenting sponsor adidas Skateboarding and primary sponsors G-Shock and Skullcandy for helping make it all happen. Nearly $60,000 was raised to support HHF programs for 2019.

The official HH Weekend recap video was filmed by HHF Filmer Project interns Muhammad Floyd, Emmet Padgett, Gustavo Morla, and Arianna Gil along with mentors Ray Mendez and Mike Sassano, and edited by HHF Filmer Project mentor Andrey Piontkovski.

This year's extended HH Weekend was packed with six events over the course of four days:

• The Eurasia Project photo show featured images from skate photographer Patrik Wallner's photobook chronicling his travels and his companions under the name Visualtraveling, exploring 101 countries across Europe and Asia throughout the last decade.

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• The Skate Industry 101 panel discussion hosted by adidas, The Boardr, and G-Shock was moderated by Steve Rodriguez with guest speakers including Jorge Angel (The Boardr/Excel Management), Blair Alley (Transworld), Joe Manteleone (Dickies), and Matt Milligan (adidas Skateboarding) with a few extra gems from Giovanni Reda.

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• HHF x HUF dropped a full capsule collection with a party at the HUF NYC store that showcased photography by HHF alumni Dominic Ming, Orlando Gil, Christian Moses, and Juan Aranzazu.

• 20 local skaters received support from HHF paying their entry fee to skate the Boardr Am NYC contest. The winner of the HHF Wildcard Division of Boardr Am was Brandon Johnson. He’ll receive an all-expense paid trip to attend the Am Getting Paid contest in Montreal, Canada with the rest of the Boardr Am 2018 contest winners in September. HHF's Nicholas Ramos took 6th place.

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• THEY Skate an "all gender skate jam" at Performance Space New York in collaboration with Unity Skateboards drew a small crowd of gender fluid, trans and female skaters to the BRUJAS Training Facility.

The Harold Hunter Day XII Skate Jam was held on June 3 at the Coleman Oval/LES Skatepark. HHF Legacy Program participants were presented with full scholarships to Woodward courtesy of sponsors Dickies (Nicholas Ponce, and Rashard Peppers) and Fools Gold (Aaron Saldana).

The best trick contests were judged by guest judges Vincent Alvarez and Jamie Foy of the Dickies skate team along with local Eugene Kang of Terminal skate shop:

G-Shock Best Trick:
First Place - Gabriel Kwiatkowski - fakie frontside shuv switch 5-0
Second Place - Brandon James - halfcab smith grind 180 out
Third Place - Dylan Nieves - 180 switch 5-0 the hardway

SkullCandy Best Trick:
First Place - Kaue Cossa -  Kickflip Backside Noseblunt
Second Place - Gabriel Kwiatkowski - Crook big flip out
Third Place - Brandon James - 50-50 to 50-50  

Zumiez Destroyer Award:
Carlo Carezzano

Adidas Best Trick:
For the second year in a row, the guys from The Boardr came through with a custom built obstacle to add maximum excitement to the grand finale of the 12th annual Harold Hunter Day celebration. After the success of last years step-up ramp, the crew one-upped themselves by adding a handrail that turned the famous LES double-set into an insane gap-to-rail that made the locals sweat as they skated up to it. As usual, once the first guy landed a trick, and the money ($1500 in cash) started flowing, the skaters figured out what was possible and proceeded to shred the rail for the next 45 minutes. It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend of friends coming together to celebrate the life of the legendary Harold Hunter.

​For a taste of the action and an edit of the skating at the HH Day Skate Jam, check out Blair Alley's coverage on TransWorld SKATEboarding.

Photos by Gunars Elmuts:

Photos by Sammy Glucksman:

Photos by Ryan Zimmerman:

Photos by Jordan Galliano:

Photos by Muhammad Floyd: