VISTA, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 11, 2011) - The sun shined bright on the 8th annual Tony Hawk: DaGeDar Presents Stand Up For Skateparks benefit hosted by the Tony Hawk Foundation yesterday in Beverly Hills. The sold-out event hosted a crowd of 1,000 guests at the home of Ron Burkle, Green Acres Estate. Celebrities, athletes, fans and friends of the Foundation were in attendance to show their continued support.
The Black Keys gave an incredible performance after a dazzled crowd watched as Tony and top skaters and BMX athletes, including Shaun White, Mat Hoffman, Bucky Lasek, Mitchie Brusco, and Lincoln Ueda performed a Vert Demo on Hawk's personal ramp. The family-friendly, carnival-style event also featured interactive games and appearances by a number of celebrities, athletes and artists, including Tony Hawk, Mark Wahlberg, Jon Favreau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bill Walton, Perry and Etty Farrell, Chuck Liddell, Kat Von D, Mike "Rooftop" Escamilla, Fred Durst, Rob Machado, Tillman the Skateboarding Dog, dance troupe Chi-Town's Finest Breakers, Kevin Staab, Jason Ellis, Jamie Thomas, Stevie Williams, Holly Robinson Peete, Lance Mountain, Chris Cole, Stefan Lessard, Chef Mark Kearney, Rodney Mullen, and LEGOLAND'S Darth Vader.
The benefit raised $755,000 for the Tony Hawk Foundation's mission to build free public skateparks in low-income areas, providing local, at-risk youth an opportunity to participate in a fun, safe and healthy new activity. Fundraising efforts included a live and silent auction featuring one-of-a-kind items, such as a custom Triumph Black Scrambler 900 "Hawkized" by Roland Sands Design, a Tony Hawk Edition Customized Ford Explorer by Galpin Auto Sports and DUB, autographed skateboard decks from Tony Hawk and other top pros like Chris Cole, Ryan Sheckler, Nyjah Huston, and Shaun White. Other auction items included a Kelly Slater-autographed Channel Island surfboard, Jane's Addiction-autographed Fender Classic Jaguar guitar, Eddie Vedder-autographed ukulele, luxury vacations and much more.
In keeping with tradition, a pledge drive was announced at the event to benefit the skatepark project in Canoga Park, California. Youth from this challenged community in Los Angeles were present as Tony and event Co-Chair Mike Vallely rallied the crowd to support their skatepark. Donations for this project are still being accepted. Through October, contribute $300 or more to the skatepark effort in Canoga Park, California and receive an autographed Tony Hawk skateboard deck. See the video about this project and make your contribution at www.skatecanogapark.org.
Tony Hawk launched his Stand Up For Skateparks fundraiser in 2004 with the goal to increase the number of safe, legal, healthy recreational outlets for youth in low-income communities across the U.S. To-date, the Tony Hawk Foundation has helped fund 493 public skateboard parks in these communities, which now service more than 3.5-million youth annually. DaGeDar Presents Stand Up For Skateparks was made possible through the support of Ex Drinks, Activision, Mondrian Los Angeles, Kohl's, T-Mobile USA, Quiksilver Foundation, Sweetwater Video, Galpin Auto Sports, Roland Sands Design and Tech Deck.
To learn more about the benefit, or for information about the upcoming DaGeDar Presents Stand Up For Skateparks at Red Rock Casino ~ Spa ~ Resort in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 5th, visit www.standupforskateparks.org.
All funds raised during the DaGeDar Presents Stand Up For Skateparks event go directly to the Tony Hawk Foundation and its programs to help bring free, quality public skateparks to youth who need them most.