10/11/09 (Beverly Hills, CA) – Tony Hawk Lands The 900 For His Foundation Supporters; blink-182 returns to play at sixth-annual Tony Hawk Foundation benefit.
Having played the Tony Hawk Foundation’s first benefit in 2004, the re-united blink-182 took a break from their current North American tour to honor Tony’s invitation to perform at the sixth-annual Tony Hawk: RIDE Presents Stand Up for Skateparks event. But blink-182 wasn’t the only great comeback story of the day-Tony also landed the elusive 900 during a vert demo that saw contest-winning performances by Hawk and fellow skaters Bucky Lasek, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Andy Macdonald, Lincoln Ueda, and Kevin Staab, plus BMXers Simon Tabron and Coco Zurita, as well as some ramp-top cheerleading from Tom Green and Fred Durst.
The sixth-annual Tony Hawk: RIDE Presents Stand Up For Skateparks benefit returned to the exclusive Green Acres estate in Beverly Hills, California to raise critical funds for the Tony Hawk Foundation’s mission to bring free, quality public skateparks to youth in low-income areas across the U.S. But that’s where the resemblance to previous Stand Up events ends. In addition to the amazing Vert Demo and blink-182 performance, the family-centric action-sports carnival featured all-new games, activities, plus unique auction items like a “Hawkized” 2010 Ford Mustang GT customized by Galpin Auto Sports and DUB. Guests mingled with stars like Tommy Lee, Tom Green, Danny Way, Victoria Beckham, Chris “Big Black” Boykin, Jon Favreau, Mat Hoffman, Chuck Liddell, Terry Kennedy, Fred Durst, Johnny Knoxville, Travis Barker, Erik Estrada, Verne Troyer, Tom DeLonge, Perry Farrell, David Spade, Mark Hoppus, Paul Rodriguez, Jr., and event emcee Sal Masekela.
Tony Hawk: RIDE Presents Stand Up For Skateparks raised a total of 775,000 dollars to support the Tony Hawk Foundation’s mission to bring free, quality public skateparks to youth in low-income areas, and was made possible through the generous support of Activision, UFC, Ex Drinks, Andaz, Dynacraft, and Galpin Auto Sports.
Tony Hawk: RIDE Presents Stand Up For Skateparks makes its Las Vegas debut on November 7, when it will be hosted by the Wynn Las Vegas resort. Event Benefit Committee members Andre Agassi, Lance Armstrong, Travis Barker, Ron Burkle, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Eisner, Jon Favreau, Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta III, Jeff Fine, Robin Greenspun, Mia Hamm, Mat Hoffman, Kathy Ireland, Bobby Kotick, Chuck Liddell, George Maloof, Andrew Pascal, Shaun White and Elaine Wynn join Tony to bring this unique event to The Strip. Tony Hawk: RIDE Presents Stand Up For Skateparks at the Wynn Las Vegas will also feature a Pledge Drive for the Freedom Skatepark project in Las Vegas.
A charitable, non-profit organization, the Tony Hawk Foundation was established in 2002 by its namesake, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, to promote and provide funds for high-quality public skateparks in low-income areas throughout the United States-with an emphasis on the word “quality.” Since then, the Foundation has awarded $2,887,500 to 448 communities. The Foundation focuses on working with local officials and grassroots, community-based organizations that plan to hire designers and contractors with strong experience designing and building skateparks.
The Tony Hawk Foundation was established by a gift from Tony Hawk. Its directors raise additional funds through events, industry donations, and continuing contributions from Tony and other entities. In addition to skateparks, the Foundation also makes donations to other children-related charities, as chosen by its Board Of Directors. For more information or to make a donation, visit the Foundation’sWeb site.