Boards For Bros: What Is It?

Posted on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 by Ryan

Boards For Bros is a group of skateboarders working together to collect and refurbish skateboards so they can be redistributed back into the community for children who cannot afford their own.

By helping the skateboard community give skateboards to those without the opportunity to ride one otherwise, Boards For Bros works to show that skateboarding can help children learn discipline, respect, and perseverance that will assist them throughout their entire lives, while having fun and exercising.

Boards for Bros is the natural extension of an idea that formed one day in 2006 at the historic Bro Bowl in Tampa, Florida. Some skateboarders, their families, and their friends were skating and the usual crowd of local kids stood by, watching excitedly. Since the park had been built in 1979, the locals never seemed to have their own skateboards, but were always stoked to borrow one of the visiting skaters' boards.

This original group of skaters was Paul Schmitt, Ed Womble, and Ryan Clements. Realizing they could be the ones to make a change in these kids’ lives, this group of skaters, and by extension, the entire family at Skatepark of Tampa, organized the collection of used skateboards, refurbished them, and gave them out to kids in some of the sketchier areas of Tampa around the holidays. Boards For Bros was born.

Since that first year, Boards For Bros has been collecting and refurbishing hardgoods for the kids in Tampa, and many folks in the skateboarding industry have noticed, taking up their own collections and even donating complete boards.

In 2010, Emerica’s Wild in the Streets in Tampa was held to benefit Boards For Bros, raising money, awareness, and a bunch of gear to give to kids. That event partnership led to the formation of a long-term partnership between Emerica and Boards For Bros. Wild in the Streets is about empowering kids, and by aligning with worthy causes Emerica encourages kids to be part of something bigger than themselves, and even bigger than skateboarding. All Emerica events will benefit Boards For Bros, and the 2011 Wild in the Streets event in Los Angeles will be the launch of the first Boards For Bros donation outside of Florida.

Boards For Bros Mission Statement: To inspire kids to use skateboarding as a gateway to a healthy life by giving them refurbished skateboards through a joint industry effort.

Past Events

2006: Spread the Word	2006: Give Out Boards
2007: Assemble Parts	2007: Give Out Boards
2008: Assemble Parts	2008: Give Out Boards
2009: Havana, Cuba	2009: Give Out Boards
2010: Setup	2010: Give Out Boards
2010: Emerica's Wild in the Streets Benefiting Boards for Bros