Help us build Grant's skatepark.
Skateboarding is a catalyst for anyone looking to find their footing, literally. It teaches kids how to keep a balance and how to pick themselves up when they've fallen, it shows teenagers how to carve their path while applauding the weirdos alongside them, and it helps adults find themselves when they've gotten tangled in the messes of life.
In memory of our favorite local weirdo and skater-kid, Grant Finkelson, we're showing up to build a skatepark in rural Minnesota. Help us bring the world's greatest sport, art, lifestyle, and complete utter freedom ever known to mankind to the country.
Join us for our largest fundraising event! The Challenge Hill Race, a 5K or 5-mile race through the hills of Seven Sisters Prairie, is on Saturday, August 10th, 2024, at 8:00 am. Visit tinyurl.com/challengehillrace2024 for more information.
Grant's
Story
Grant Finkelson was a punk skater kid who was independent, creative, beyond intelligent, and wildly ambitious. He wanted to make music and art, travel and live in places he'd never been, meet new people, learn new things, make money, change the world, and skateboard as much as he could.
Grant's independence gave him the mindset that he was capable of dealing with his addiction and mental health issues on his own. He never wanted to burden anyone he loved, so he helped himself. He was just a kid when he was prescribed a painkiller for a broken foot that led him down the path of trying to feel that sensation of "better" again. He was too young to understand the power these drugs would have over his psyche.
After years of trying to find quick-fix opioids to heal, he found Kratom and thought he was on his road to healing and self-discovery. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the risk associated with Kratom, and his extensive use of it to replace his cravings took his young, precious life.
Outside of drugs, skateboarding was Grant's saving grace. He and his cousins had their boards at a young age, massively inspired by Tony Hawk and his video game series, and they learned all the tricks together. While they each became masters, Grant took the cake in terms of really owning what it meant to be able to skate like a pro. He was a multi-talented kid who could do anything he put his mind to, but skateboarding was his passion, therapy, and life. No matter where he was, he always found time to grab his board and skate it out.
He was passionate that skateboarding was his lifesaver and adamant about passing it on to others. He spent time with other skaters, taught his family and friends how to skate, and even went to a city council meeting in his hometown to start a conversation about getting a skatepark built in his small Minnesota town. Unfortunately, his life ended before he could keep the conversation going.
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Those of us he left behind are showing up to make it happen.
Defined as "​one who rides a skateboard and has fun doing it. skaters can be any person; punk, prep, jock, nerd... whatever. skateboarding has room for all kinds of people, and most of us won't discriminate based on anything but your love for skateboarding." Urban Dictionary, https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=skateboarder.
Contrary to long-standing stereotypes, skateboarding isn't just for the "outcast" or "bad kid." Skateboarding fosters unique community bonds, nurtures personal development, and enables self-expression for those seeking an outlet.
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Don't take our word for it; see how skateboarding changes lives worldwide.
