Free Skateboarding With Pros in Long Beach Now

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Long Beach brings this free, after-school fun today, with a chance to meet a trio of pro skateboarders. Parents, you can check out their links galore that Patch added to the below announcement:

Calling all Tony Hawks in training! The DGK is in the LBC! This Tuesday, January 22nd, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, in conjunction with Next Up Foundation, will be hosting DGK team riders Marcus Mcbride, Derrick Wilson and Keelan Dadd at the Boys & Girls Freeman E. Fairfield/Westside Center, located at 1835 West Willard Street, from 3-5pm.  Come join the free fun at the Grand Opening of Next Up’s skateboarding program in Long Beach! 

Next Up Foundation is a grassroots organization, whose primary mission is to serve as a resource for kids and teens in underserved communities; providing guidance through action sports activities, supplying free athletic equipment, mentoring and supervision. Next Up Foundation’s purpose is to help kids reach their full potential, inspiring them to lead healthy and successful lives while providing habit forming exercise activities and social interaction through the sport of skateboarding. For more information, visitwww.nextupfoundation.com.

Analogously, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach has been helping the city’s underrepresented children and youth realize their full potential since 1939. Comprised of 11 distinct sites across the city, BGCLB was founded by community activists, Maurice Bugbee and Carlton Wallace, in an effort to keep young boys out of trouble and off the streets, by providing activities and programs that encouraged them to grow into responsible, contributing members of the community. In 1991, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach expanded its reach to include underprivileged girls. As one of the oldest, most successful youth organizations in the area, the Clubs have served more than 212,000 youth in the most distressed neighborhoods.

Today, more than 1,100 boys and girls, ages 6-18, attend the Clubs daily, participating in over 20 youth development activities in the program areas of Character & Leadership, Education & Career Preparation, The Arts & Culture, Health & Life Skills, Athletics, Fitness & Social Recreation. For more information on Club activities, ways to support the BGCLB, and upcoming events, visit www.bgclublb.org, or call Club headquarters at (562) 595-5945.