"This event was meant to celebrate Black Joy...I want to make sure that every skater here tonight gets their flower" - Kava, HHF Lead

Skaters have always been a part of [Michael] Saes’s Bridgerunners, which very much started out as a collection of what he calls “non-running runner.” And too this day, the group welcomes anyone and everyone to run with them. Whether seasoned runners or green athletes, couriers, cyclists, and, of course, skateboarders, all have always been encouraged to join the Bridgerunners. In 2007, one of Saes’s fellow runners—a local skater and fireman named Mike Hernandez—told Saes about the work the Harold Hunter Foundation was doing.

Always in search of ways to give back to his community, Saes decided to bridge the gap between his group and the HHF and immediately began to enlist local artists, many of whom were friends with Harold, to design custom, one-off shirts to be sold as fundraisers through the Foundation. 

Artists like Kevin Lyons, SSUR, Love Me, Harry Jumonji, and KCDC have contributed time and work to provide the foundation with wares to sell in order to raise money. This year’s shirt was designed by noted NYC artist Stash, who used bold, black lines to reinterpret an image of Harold [seen below]. In addition to the shirt, Stash recently finished painting his image of Harold on the exterior of the Bridgerunners’ HQ near the corner of Delancey and Attorney Streets on the Lower East Side.

Art and graffiti by Mr. Stash (IG: @mr_stash). Photo by Dave Hashim.